What's happening to my rates
What you need to know about the Annual Transmission Cost Adjustment (TCA)
On Nov. 1, 2018, Black Hills Energy filed its annual Transmission Cost Adjustment. The TCA is a monthly surcharge on all customers’ bills to pay for the costs of maintaining and improving the high-voltage transmission system that ensures the safe, reliable delivery of energy across our southern Colorado service territory.
The TCA is updated on an annual basis to allow Black Hills to recover construction costs incurred the previous year for projects related to our transmission towers and structures, high-voltage transmission lines, and substations – critical infrastructure necessary for carrying high-voltage electricity quickly and efficiently to the lower voltage distribution system that serves homes and businesses.
As proposed, the 2019 TCA rate would be $0.002069 per kilowatt-hour (kWh). Based on this rate, the average residential customer monthly bill would see an increase of 29 cents, going from $98.29 per month to $98.58 per month. The average small commercial customer monthly bill would see an increase of $1.12, from $318.28 per month to $319.40 per month. If approved, the 2019 TCA rate would be in effect from Jan. 1, 2019 through Dec. 31, 2019.
What you need to know about the quarterly Energy Cost Adjustment
On August 31, 2018, Black Hills Energy filed a quarterly revision to its Energy Cost Adjustment (ECA).
The ECA is a surcharge on all customers’ bills that recovers costs incurred by the Company to generate electricity, including the cost of fuel for our natural gas plants, power purchased on the open market and some costs associated with renewable energy production. These fluctuate quarterly due to changes in forecasted fuel and purchased power costs.
Every quarter we make a routine filing with the Colorado Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to adjust the ECA rate up or down, to reflect forecasts, true-up’s, and actuals as a result of the cost of fuel to generate electricity. The ECA also includes a “true-up” of the actual generation costs over a prior period. (For example, the true-up for the fourth quarter is included in the second quarter ECA.)
The ECA charge for the October through December 2018 is $0.03436 per kWh, an increase from the $0.02991 per kWh previously in effect. The average residential customer with usage of 600 kWh per month will see a monthly increase to their bill of $2.79 from $95.50 to $98.29, or 2.92%. The average small commercial customer with usage of 2,300 kWh per month will see an increase of $10.70 from $307.58 to $318.28, or 3.48%.