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SSVEC officials note AEPCO's rate hikes in review of annual report
By Amanda Baillie and Carol Broeder/Wick News Service
Growing communities and the rising cost of gas are issues the region's electricity cooperative is meeting head on.
Sulphur Springs Valley Electric Cooperative also is "honoring its commitments" and spending its members' money wisely, according to the organization's CEO, Creden Huber.
On Tuesday, Oct. 17, SSVEC held its annual community leaders' lunch at the Plaza Restaurant, where it presented its annual report.
Huber told attendees he wanted to discuss power costs and the delivery of power.
"The delivery of power to your home is comprised of three main components," he said. "The first is generation. AEPCO (Arizona Electric Power Cooperative) is our generator, and AEPCO generates or purchases 100-percent of the power we sell you. The next step is delivery. AEPCO delivers the power we purchase from them over Southwest Transmission's transmission lines to SSVEC. These two components comprise over 60 percent of your bill."
"SSVEC is the last step and we take delivery from SWTC into our transmission system and then we deliver it to you," Huber added.
Between Sept. 1, 2005, and Oct. 1, 2006, AEPCO has imposed rate increases amounting to 33.17 percent to offset the rising cost of natural gas.
This will result in a net average 20 percent increase on bills sent to SSVEC's members, Huber said.
The AEPCO rate increase is reviewed every six months, he added.
On Friday, the Arizona Corporation Commission also will vote on whether to increase the amount of money included in each bill to help meet the Environmental Portfolio Standard, which states that 1.1 percent of energy sold must come from renewable resources, such as solar and wind.
SSVEC members currently pay a maximum of 35 cents per residential meter, per month ($13 for small commercial meters and $39 for large customers) to help fund an incentive program, called Sun Watts, to encourage more people to use renewable energy.
If approved, the new rates would mean a residential customer would pay $1.05 per meter, per month ($39 for small commercial meters and $117 for large customers).
"We have made about 296 rebates for solar energy," Huber said. "But we are only at 0.2 percent, so we still have a long way to go."
The cooperative covers an area of approximately 6,500 square miles, providing service to around 50,000 customers.
In the last 10 years SSVEC has more than doubled its system peak - its maximum output during the summer months - due to growth in the region.
"We have been adding more members and substations," Huber said.
However, the organization has been making substantial savings in other areas and believes more savings will be forthcoming in the future.
"We understand that the money we spend comes from you," Huber told attendees. "Milton Friedman said it best, 'Nobody spends someone else's money as carefully as they spend their own. We understand we are spending your money."
In 2003 the SSVEC board of directors voted to become a partial requirement member of AEPCO, which means it will not have to buy all of its electricity needs from one supplier.
Although it is still waiting for the contracts to be finalized, SSVEC says the move will eventually provide major benefits. This will include being able to sell any excess electric capacity and being able to buy shortage in power from other sources to ensure lower prices.
SSVEC estimates that between 2011 and 2020 it can sell $49 million of excess electricity to other areas.
The organization has also installed what it calls "Turtle Systems" on 16,000 meters. This means meter readings are sent from those meters to substation feeders.
"That's 16,000 meters that we now don't have to go out and read every month," Huber said.
The number of employees also has dropped from 178 in 1995 to 149 in 2005, even though the number of services has risen by around 12,000 in the same period.
"We estimate savings during the late 1990s at approximately $5 million a year," Huber said. "We also avoided a 15 to 20 percent rate increase and we continue to look for ways to improve the operation of SSVEC and save money."
"We believe we are good stewards of your money and are spending it wisely," he said.
(Sierra Vista Herald reporter Amanda Baillie can be reached at (520) 515-4683.)
Sulphur Springs Valley Electric Cooperative also is "honoring its commitments" and spending its members' money wisely, according to the organization's CEO, Creden Huber.
On Tuesday, Oct. 17, SSVEC held its annual community leaders' lunch at the Plaza Restaurant, where it presented its annual report.
Huber told attendees he wanted to discuss power costs and the delivery of power.
"The delivery of power to your home is comprised of three main components," he said. "The first is generation. AEPCO (Arizona Electric Power Cooperative) is our generator, and AEPCO generates or purchases 100-percent of the power we sell you. The next step is delivery. AEPCO delivers the power we purchase from them over Southwest Transmission's transmission lines to SSVEC. These two components comprise over 60 percent of your bill."
"SSVEC is the last step and we take delivery from SWTC into our transmission system and then we deliver it to you," Huber added.
Between Sept. 1, 2005, and Oct. 1, 2006, AEPCO has imposed rate increases amounting to 33.17 percent to offset the rising cost of natural gas.
This will result in a net average 20 percent increase on bills sent to SSVEC's members, Huber said.
The AEPCO rate increase is reviewed every six months, he added.
On Friday, the Arizona Corporation Commission also will vote on whether to increase the amount of money included in each bill to help meet the Environmental Portfolio Standard, which states that 1.1 percent of energy sold must come from renewable resources, such as solar and wind.
SSVEC members currently pay a maximum of 35 cents per residential meter, per month ($13 for small commercial meters and $39 for large customers) to help fund an incentive program, called Sun Watts, to encourage more people to use renewable energy.
If approved, the new rates would mean a residential customer would pay $1.05 per meter, per month ($39 for small commercial meters and $117 for large customers).
"We have made about 296 rebates for solar energy," Huber said. "But we are only at 0.2 percent, so we still have a long way to go."
The cooperative covers an area of approximately 6,500 square miles, providing service to around 50,000 customers.
In the last 10 years SSVEC has more than doubled its system peak - its maximum output during the summer months - due to growth in the region.
"We have been adding more members and substations," Huber said.
However, the organization has been making substantial savings in other areas and believes more savings will be forthcoming in the future.
"We understand that the money we spend comes from you," Huber told attendees. "Milton Friedman said it best, 'Nobody spends someone else's money as carefully as they spend their own. We understand we are spending your money."
In 2003 the SSVEC board of directors voted to become a partial requirement member of AEPCO, which means it will not have to buy all of its electricity needs from one supplier.
Although it is still waiting for the contracts to be finalized, SSVEC says the move will eventually provide major benefits. This will include being able to sell any excess electric capacity and being able to buy shortage in power from other sources to ensure lower prices.
SSVEC estimates that between 2011 and 2020 it can sell $49 million of excess electricity to other areas.
The organization has also installed what it calls "Turtle Systems" on 16,000 meters. This means meter readings are sent from those meters to substation feeders.
"That's 16,000 meters that we now don't have to go out and read every month," Huber said.
The number of employees also has dropped from 178 in 1995 to 149 in 2005, even though the number of services has risen by around 12,000 in the same period.
"We estimate savings during the late 1990s at approximately $5 million a year," Huber said. "We also avoided a 15 to 20 percent rate increase and we continue to look for ways to improve the operation of SSVEC and save money."
"We believe we are good stewards of your money and are spending it wisely," he said.
(Sierra Vista Herald reporter Amanda Baillie can be reached at (520) 515-4683.)
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