In quarter three of 2025, you will notice a new line item on your electric bill for a Power Cost Adjustment or PCA. In order to educate our members prior to the item appearing on your bill, we want to make sure you know what it is for and why it is there.
Wayne-White Electric is a non-profit organization owned by those we serve, including you. We distribute power to over 9,500 members at their homes, farms, and businesses in our local communities. One of our top priorities is providing reliable power at an affordable price. With so many variable costs that fluctuate month to month, it is sometimes hard to only collect what we need to operate. Remember, as a non-profit, making money is NOT our goal. Our margins come back to you, the member.
In order to help manage those variable costs, Wayne-White Electric will be implementing a Power Cost Adjustment on your monthly bill beginning in July. Having the Power Cost Adjustment benefits members by covering monthly power cost fluctuations without having to continually restructure electricity rates.
For example, during times of peak electricity usage (i.e. the ice storm and sub-zero weather we had in January 2025!), power generators in our region may occasionally need to purchase power from other regions of the country, usually at much higher costs. In this case, our purchase power cost from Hoosier would be higher, resulting in a positive (charge) Power Cost Adjustment on your bill. If our power costs from Hoosier decline, this would result in a negative (credit) Power Cost Adjustment on your bill. This is why it is important for you, our members, to help monitor and reduce your usage during peak times in the cold of winter or heat of summer.
Although power costs is the biggest driver of our PCA, other factors can affect the PCA as well. Examples include:
- Higher or lower than expected sales
- Unforeseen expenses, i.e. ice storms
The goal is to only collect what we need. If we do not collect enough through rates, an additional charge will appear. If we collect more than we need through rates, a bill credit will appear.
Based on projected power costs in our budget this year and temporary reductions in costs, members should see a credit on the Power Cost Adjustment line to start. This will allow us to share our excess margins with members now, while still creating acceptable margins at the end of the year for capital credits. Remember, although it should be a credit to start, it can always go the other way depending on costs.
To begin with, this credit is currently projected to be seven-tenths of a cent per kWh consumed. This number will be reassessed quarterly to stay in line with our costs. So how will that affect your monthly electric bill? If you use 1,000 kWh for the month, you would see a $7 credit in the PCA line. The example shown in the bill above highlights a $4.56 credit for 651 kWh of usage for the month. You may see a PCA item of $0.00 for a couple of months prior to the July bill as we finalize the billing process in our system.
At Wayne-White Electric Cooperative, we are doing everything we can to keep costs down. Remember, you are the owners and voting members of our cooperative. We do not answer to share holders, nor do we seek to collect more than our needed margins.
It is the cooperative difference.