Xcel's New Rates are Here

  Did anyone notice a change in their electric bills this month? If you’re an Xcel customer, your bill will look different. As of October 1, 2017, Xcel customers have new electric rates. Xcel estimates an average 8.0% increase for an average residential customer for this initial rate increase.

• Here is a quick summary of the impacts to residential customers:
• • Winter rates (Oct 1-May 31) are now 9.032¢ per kWh compared to previous rate of 8.040¢ • Summer rates (June 1-Sept 30) are now 10.582¢ per kWh compared to previous rate of 9.395¢

Other special rates, such as winter electric heating, have also increased. Your bill also has another change: a decoupling adjustment. Very briefly, it will show up as a credit or a surcharge on your bill. The intent of this adjustment is to “decouple” Xcel’s revenues from the amount of energy customers use, so that the utility doesn’t have a financial reason to discourage energy efficiency. Xcel included informational fliers with your most recent bill that explains this and all of the other rate changes.  If you have an online account, log in to Xcel's website to view your bill and bill inserts. When you look at the informational fliers, you will also see that an additional rate increase will take place beginning January 1, 2019. Read our previous blog to get more information about the approved rate increases. We can’t end this brief blog without making a plug (catch the pun?) to use the rate increase as motivation to decrease your energy use. Being a bit more diligent around your home to reduce energy use will help keep your bills steady, even as the electric rates go up. Check out some of these tips or better yet, contact CUB to arrange an educational event for community members, friends, or colleagues about saving energy or request for a free one-on-one consultation. We’re here to help!