Nashville is evolving along with the customers we serve. But, one thing remains steadfast. Every decision we make is focused on providing you with safe, reliable power.
It’s important for us to help you understand upcoming changes to your electric bill beginning in October.
There will be a retail rate adjustment of approximately three percent. This increase is necessary to cover the cost of providing service, such as meter installation, maintenance, infrastructure including poles and transformers, upgrades to meet customer growth, tree trimming, payment processing, postage and customer service. In addition, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is planning a rate adjustment of 1.5 percent this October.
With these changes, residential customers will see an overall increase of approximately $7 on their monthly bill. That’s based on 1,300 kilowatt hours of usage per month.
Why are energy rates increasing?
NES needed to implement an increase for these reasons:
- Powering a growing economy. Nashville is evolving along with the customers we serve. But, one thing remains steadfast. Every decision we make is focused on providing you with safe, reliable power that supports growth and new jobs. To meet increased power demand, we must build and upgrade infrastructure.
- Maintaining reliable electric service. NES continues to focus on safety and reliability through regular system maintenance and modernizing the grid by replacing aging equipment, such as older power poles and transformers.
- Investing in technology. NES has a plan to meet the growing needs of Middle Tennessee while also looking for ways to cut costs such as implementing automated meter reading routes with the installation of AMI (Advanced Metering Infrastructure) meters. We’ve also reduced purchased power costs by approximately $2.5 million annually through our Peak Load Management program.
What do our energy rates and charges pay for?
Approximately 80 cents of every dollar that comes into NES goes directly to TVA to pay for the power we purchase. The remaining amount goes to cover the various costs for operations, maintenance and infrastructure of the system, upgrades to meet customer growth and emergency & storm repair.
How can I better manage my energy bills?
You can save money with tips and tools to lower your energy usage.
- Take an easy do-it-yourself audit online and receive a free energy-saving kit in the mail.
- Use our PowerWise Bill Analyzer for cost-saving recommendations tailored to your energy usage.
- With Balanced Billing, you can budget for predictable energy bills throughout the year based on your average energy usage.
The last NES increase was in 2013. Part of our business model is to implement rate adjustments every three to five years. This allows us to continue focusing on safety, meeting the growing needs of Nashville, carefully investing in technology and replacing aging equipment for improved reliability. That’s our promise to you.
To learn more about the upcoming changes, visit nespower.com and click on “Rates.”
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