2010 Sun River Electric Rates

What are the changes in rates for 2010?
The average user in each member class will see an approximate 6.8% increase in their power bill, including a $2/month base charge increase.   Your actual increase will depend on your usage.

What does the Base Charge pay for?
A base charge is designed to recover a portion of fixed costs, which are those costs that are the same for every member, regardless of how much electricity they use.   Fixed costs include taxes, depreciation, insurance, maintenance of office and warehouse buildings, mailing out bills, reading meters, and other administrative costs. 

What happened to the Energy Charge?
The energy charge that you used to see on your bill is now broken down into two components: a distribution charge and a purchased power rider.

What does the Distribution Charge pay for?
The distribution charge pays for the remainder of the fixed costs, as well as the labor, materials, vehicle maintenance, and the other expenses we incur providing electricity to your house.

What is the Purchased Power Rider?
This is what we pay our power supplier (Central Montana Electric Power Cooperative) for the energy that we purchase for resale to our members.

Why is the Purchased Power Rider now separate?
The cost of purchased power is our largest expense.  We separated the purchased power from the other expenses to provide more information to our members.  For instance, the residential member who uses 1000 kwh in a month will see the following on their bill:

                                Base Charge                                                        $27.00

                                Distribution Charge           1000 kwh                       $43.30

                                Purchased Power             1000 kwh                       $41.20

                                USBP                                                                  $1.06

                                Total                                                               $112.56

This member will now be able to see that more than 1/3 of their bill goes to pay for the purchased power that we deliver to their home.

What is USBP?
USBP stands for Universal System Benefits Programs.  It is a state-mandated program that requires a utility to spend a specific amount each year on low income assistance, energy conservation, and renewable resources.  A portion of these expenses are collected through the USBP charge on each member’s bill.  The USBP charge decreased from 1.3% in 2009 to .95% in 2010.

Questions?  Please call us at 406-467-2527 or 800-452-7516.