As we’ve been communicating for the past few months, your electric bill we mail in late May (due in June) will include our rate adjustment. This adjustment will enable us to continue investing in power reliability.

While the power generation and high-voltage transmission costs have been increasing year over year, this increase will be our first distribution increase since 2018. Electric distribution is the part we do, maintaining the lines from the substation to your home. Note the graphic at right.

See page 6 of this magazine for a detailed comparison of our current rates versus our new rates.

Our costs of doing business have increased considerably in recent years. We are a capital-intensive business, investing $3 million to $4 million each year in maintenance and upgrades to our electric distribution system. We simply cannot hold off on the increase while continuing to invest in maintenance and reliability.

Even after our rate increase, the average residential Paulding Putnam member will pay 12.9 cents per kilowatt-hour — still lower than the average in both Ohio (13.9 cents per kWh) and Indiana (14.6 cents per kWh), according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

We hope you’ll take advantage of our many savings programs. These include energy audits; rebates for energy-efficient water heaters, heat pumps, and other appliances; our SmartHub online usage monitoring tools; our online energy calculators; load management to help us save during high peak use periods; bill credits for radio-controlled switches, and more.

Please contact our office with any questions about our new rates, payment assistance programs, or other resources. Remember, we are here for you!

COMBAT RISING RATES & SAVE

PPEC wants to help you save! Find details for any of the below programs at PPEC.coop or call us at 800-686-2357.

• Contact us for a FREE home energy audit.

• Need a new appliance or making home upgrades? We offer rebates for energy-efficient water heaters, heat pumps, and air conditioners, as well as for insulation and air sealing projects.

• Utilize our new Home Energy Analytics feature for appliance use breakdowns and bill projections. Create a SmartHub account, download the app, or visit PPEC.coop/smarthub.

• Crunch numbers using our online suite of energy calculators including lighting, heating, electric vehicles, and more.

• See if our time-of-day rate is right for you. If you can shift the majority of your electric use to off-peak hours, you may be able to save.