Electric rates to fall Oct. 1

By Staff
Clif Knight, Hartselle Enquirer
Electric customers of Hartselle Utilities can expect to pay less per kilowatt hour used after Oct. 1 thanks to the pass through of a 4.5 percent rate decrease implemented recently by the Tennessee Valley Authority.
The adjustment, which was approved by HU’s board of directors Aug. 21, means residential customers will pay 3.63 percent less per kilowatt hour than what they paid before. The difference amounts to $3.61 for the average HU household using 1,272 kwh per month. The base electric rate of $8.11 per household will remain unchanged.
Business and industrial customers also will benefit from reduced rates, ranging from 3.44 to 4.74 percent. The rate for outdoor lighting will drop 3.57 percent.
Sittason said TVA’s rate decrease was not unexpected.
Sittason said the reason why the impending rate decrease is larger for business and industrial customers is that they received higher rate increases than residential customers did in October 2005 and April 2006.