When you go grocery shopping, it’s easy to see where every dollar goes. Some money pays for fresh produce, some goes to dairy products. It’s easy to know what your grocery budget covers because everything is right there in your cart.

It’s not quite as simple to see where your energy dollars go. First, it’s important to know your electricity is supplied by a not-for-profit membership cooperative, rather than a for-profit utility. While for-profit utilities try to make money for stockholders and Wall Street, our job as your electric power co-op is to deliver reliable service while keeping your bills as low as possible.

If you think of your monthly electric bill as a shopping cart, it contains a variety of items that make up what you pay. About a third of your “cart” covers what it costs Kankakee Valley REMC to provide electricity to your home or business. That portion covers everything from maintaining power lines, employing our office staff and line crews, and using this magazine to inform and educate you.

The remaining two-thirds is the cost to buy that electricity. We don’t operate power plants, so our power provider, Wabash Valley Power Alliance, uses its buying power to negotiate with the wholesale market for the most reliable power at the lowest cost. 

In other words, two-thirds of your energy bill is based on market prices for electricity. 

The power market is affected by national and global economic factors like inflation and weather trends. While we can’t control what happens in global energy markets, our leadership works hard to keep our operating costs as low as possible. After all, our mission has always been to help you make the most of every dollar you spend on energy. 

I encourage you to turn to the next page to see all the areas that your dollar supports each month.