SEC’s Power Supplier Announces Rate Increase

Everyone is experiencing higher costs for just about everything these days, and your electric cooperative is no different. US prices for energy commodities such as crude oil, natural gas, gasoline and diesel have increased significantly in recent months.

As a result of higher natural gas prices, Old Dominion Electric Cooperative (ODEC) has instituted a rate increase to cover the higher generation costs resulting primarily from those natural gas price increases. Along with 10 other electric cooperatives in Virginia, Delaware and Maryland, SEC is a partial owner of ODEC.

Beginning May 1, ODEC will increase its costs to all its 11 cooperatives by $2.32 per MWh, or 0.232 cents per kWh. What does this mean to our members? For a typical residential household that uses 1,000 kWh of electricity monthly, an increase of $2.32 will be seen.

“In recent years, it has been very unusual to have any mid-year rate change by ODEC, but the higher costs for natural gas used to generate electricity, coupled with the volatility, in the markets have necessitated this rate increase,” said Vice President of Finance and Corporate Services Jason Loehr.

Virginia is not the only state experiencing this volatility.  Our entire region and many areas around the country are facing this.  The high winter demand for natural gas coupled with cold temperatures (particularly in January) impacted the price of natural gas, and significant volatility on some days drove short-term prices even higher. As consumers have seen, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has put further strain on price increases, as have other global economic factors.

“SEC is committed to providing an exceptional experience at an affordable cost, and part of that experience is being transparent with our member-owners,” concluded Loehr. 

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Southside Electric Cooperative, a not-for-profit, member-owned electric distribution company, has more than 57,700 active services across 18 counties in central and southern Virginia. Headquartered in Crewe, SEC has district offices in Altavista, Crewe, Dinwiddie and Powhatan. This institution is an equal opportunity provider and employer