Higher Winter Bills and How Your Cooperative Can Help

Opening your electric bill after extended winter weather can sometimes come with a bit of sticker shock. If you’ve found that your bills this winter were higher than in years past, you’re not alone. With more persistent cold and more winter storms than we’ve seen in recent years, many members have experienced higher-than-normal energy use, reflected in their energy bills.

During the winter months, the largest contributors to energy use are heating systems, auxiliary or emergency heat strips, water heaters, and heat pumps. When outdoor temperatures drop, the gap between the temperature inside your home and outside grows wider. The larger the gap, the harder your heating system must work to preserve the same thermostat setting. For example, it takes much less energy to keep your home at 68 degrees when it’s 48 degrees outside than when it’s only 18 degrees. During long, cold spells like the one our service territory saw this winter, your heating system may run almost nonstop, using more electricity measured in kilowatt-hours (kWh). The colder it is, the more kWh your home consumes, and the higher your electric bill will be.

As a not-for-profit electric cooperative, Wake Electric operates strictly at cost. This means the money we collect from higher-usage months goes directly toward buying the power you use, maintaining our infrastructure, and keeping your service reliable. That said, we know seasonally high bills can be frustrating, but we’re here to partner with you to manage your energy costs and make sure seasonal bills don’t overwhelm your household budget. Delivering affordable power to our membership is part of our cooperative mission, which is why we offer billing options and special rates to make higher-usage months easier to manage. 

For members looking to potentially see savings on their bill, Wake Electric’s Time-of-Use (TOU) rate may be a good fit. This special rate rewards members who can shift more of their electricity use to off-peak hours, when power demand is lower, and the co-op’s costs to buy it from our wholesale power providers and deliver it are lower. By intentionally shifting their energy behaviors (running appliances during off-peak hours and being mindful of when heating systems are running), members may be able to lower their energy costs while helping ease grid strain during peak demand. That’s a win for our members and the cooperative.

Wake Electric also has billing options that can help create more consistency from month to month. Using Budget Billing, your annual electric costs are spread into 11 equal monthly payments, with the 12th month serving as a “settle-up” month to cover any difference between what you paid and what you actually used. Levelized Billing provides a rolling 12-month average of your electric usage. Meaning your bill adjusts each month slightly and remains more consistent overall, even during the coldest and hottest months of the year. Both billing options can provide more predictable monthly payments, helping prevent high-use months from catching you off guard at the end of the month when your bill arrives.