MEMPHIS, Tenn. — MLGW said Thursday customers’ bills could be going up this summer by as much as 40%.
Tennessee Valley Authority spokesperson Scott Brooks said it is because of an increase in customer usage and a rise in production cost at power plants.
In May, Brooks said Americans across the country would likely see an increase of 25% on their electric bill, but TVA customers were not expected to be hit this hard. Customers were expected to see an increase of around 8% to 10%, but things changed.
So what’s behind the surge in prices?
“For us, on the wholesale level, the fuel rate has pretty much doubled compared to the three-year average,” Brooks said.
TVA looks at a three-year rolling average to compare costs and baseline for their cost hikes and dips.
“It has more than doubled from that three-year average,” Brooks said.
Brooks said there is a rise in cost for coal, natural gas, nuclear power, solar wind and hydro and TVA pushes that cost onto MLGW and MLGW pushed the cost onto consumers.
MLGW said customers will see increase from June to July, and into the entire summer, compared to last year. Company leaders said between June and September, bills could increase 20% to 40% on average, depending on how much electricity the customer uses. That could equal $30 to $60 extra per month on average.
So what can people do to save money? MLGW said air conditioning makes up the bulk of summer utility costs. They recommend setting thermostats to 78 or above. For more conservation ideas, go to mlgw.com/conserve.