Last week’s historic winter weather has members of Fayette Electric Cooperative wondering what effect the low temperatures will have on their utility bills. Many have seen media reports of projected high bills during this crisis. 

“We want to assure our members that they will not be experiencing the astronomical bills being reported in the media,” FEC General Manager Gary Don Nietsche said. “It’s still unclear what the true financial impacts will be from these events on the price of power for our members. FEC’s long-term strategy for energy procurement has been to hedge the portfolio against energy price volatility and that strategy proved sound last week,” he added. 

           
All FEC bills are based on electricity usage. When members use more electricity, as they did last week, their bills will reflect that increased usage. With that in mind, members can expect the bills they receive during the first week of March to be higher than usual due to the increased energy consumption during the extreme cold weather. 
 

All FEC members can visit our website and use SmartHub to view their energy usage. It is important to compare the low temperatures to the daily electricity usage. 

           
FEC members also can download the SmartHub app onto their mobile devices. SmartHub provides convenient account management and detailed hourly, daily and monthly usage information. SmartHub will help FEC members understand how the below-freezing temperatures impacted their energy consumption. By checking on that information, each member will know exactly what to expect when the utility bill arrives. 

           
“Please know that Fayette EC always remains focused on our mission of delivering reliable, cost-effective service to our members,” Nietsche said, “and we will adjust accordingly by spreading costs long-term to ensure our rates remain competitive and affordable.”