FCA increases in September, members' bills edge up

MTEMC members will see their rates go up 1.6 percent when they get their bills in September, as the Tennessee Valley Authority has increased its Fuel Cost Adjustment (FCA).

“The actual percentage change in members’ bills will differ depending on the amount of energy members use; however, it looks to be about a one- and a-half percent change on average,” MTEMC Communications Coordinator Todd Palmer said.

The FCA will move from August’s rate of 0.529 cents per kilowatt-hour to 0.686 cents per kilowatt-hour.

The FCA is a billing mechanism TVA uses to help recover largely uncontrollable fuel and purchased power costs. Since TVA is the power supplier for Middle Tennessee Electric and the FCA is a TVA charge, all of the charge collected from Middle Tennessee Electric members goes back to TVA.

TVA cites significantly lower hydro generation in July and higher than normal temperatures, which has forced TVA to rely on purchased power costs to meet the region’s power needs, as the reason for the increase.

Posted on August 16, 2010.