You may receive higher bills this time of year due to an increase in your electricity usage, the fuel costs from last February’s winter storm or other factors. Here’s a breakdown of how these factors may be impacting your SWEPCO bill. You’ll also find information on ways you can save energy and money going forward.
Increased electricity use
Customers typically experience higher electric bills in the months following periods of sustained cold or hot weather. In the winter, the colder it gets, the more energy you may be using. Heating systems are running longer, working harder and using more energy.
2021 winter storm fuel costs
The fuel portion of a bill includes the cost of fuel to generate electricity and the cost of purchased power. SWEPCO's fuel costs are a direct pass-through to customers.
Fuel costs to generate electricity during the February 2021 winter storm increased substantially. Typically, those February fuel costs would have been collected in one month in Louisiana and over 12 months in Arkansas and Texas. However, to minimize the impact on customers' bills, we have worked with regulatory agencies to spread the extraordinary winter storm fuel costs over five years. Customers started seeing winter storm fuel costs reflected in their bills last April in Louisiana and last May in Arkansas. Our five-year proposal is still under review in Texas.
New wind facilities
Arkansas and Louisiana customers now benefit from the new North Central Wind facilities because wind generates power with no fuel costs. This lowers SWEPCO’s overall fuel cost for power generation. While this benefit may not be as noticeable recently because of the impact of winter storm fuel and other costs, the savings will increase in the coming months after the third – and by the far the largest – of the three North Central wind farms begins operations. The cost of the new wind facilities is reflected in SWEPCO’s rates, such as the “Wind Facility Asset Rider” on Louisiana customers’ bills and a proposed change to base rates pending in Arkansas. But the fuel cost savings and federal tax credits for the wind projects will offset the cost of the facilities, resulting in net long-term savings over the anticipated 30-year life of the facilities. The new wind facilities do not serve Texas customers.
Save energy and money
You can compare your current kilowatt-hour (kWh) usage, which is how energy is measured, and your current energy costs to the same month a year ago or any previous month with information displayed on Your Energy Usage page of your online SWEPCO account.
If you’re ready to make a change and take charge of your energy use and bill, check out SWEPCO.com/Savings for several no-cost and low-cost energy saving tips. You can also read about our energy efficiency programs that offer financial incentives to help pay for energy efficient improvements around your home so you can save even more energy and money!
Reach out for help
We realize many folks are still impacted by COVID-related financial issues. If you are struggling to pay your electric bills, please contact us so we can work together to find a solution. You can reach us by logging into your SWEPCO account, visiting SWEPCO.com/Assist, calling us at 888.216.3523, or contacting us through Facebook.com/SWEPCO or Twitter.com/SWEPCOnews.