From WSJ Staff Reports
Wake Forest Power residential customers will see a slight increase in their electric rates when a new rate schedule takes effect September 1. It is Wake Forest Power’s first rate adjustment since a rate decrease in September 2016. Projected to cost the average customer approximately $5 a month, this year’s four percent rate increase is WFP’s first since April 2009.
In December 2020, Booth and Associates presented to the Board of Commissioners (BOC) the results of a cost of service and rate study along with recommended changes to the electric rate structure. At that time, the Board agreed to revisit and discuss rate adjustments in April due to the challenges presented over the past year by COVID-19. As a result, the implementation of the rate increase was delayed and included with the Board’s approval of the fiscal year 2021-22 operating budget.
Under the old rates, customers paid $129.05 for 1,000 kWh – $113.10 for the power and $15.95 for the basic charge. Beginning in September, the bill for the same amount of power will be $133.95. The energy charge for power is $4.15 less, but the basic charge has been increased to $25.
In accordance with Goal 4 of the Wake Forest Strategic Plan: Maintain Fiscal Strength, the BOC plans to request another electric rate study within the next three to five years.