Electric rates to go up
Increase of nearly 12 percent went into effect on Jan. 1

By Jim Tiffin
Cibola County Bureau

GRANTS — As of Feb. 1, residential and commercial CDEC customers in Cibola County and some in McKinley County will see increased electricity rates on their bills. Rates went up 11.8 percent on Jan. 1, 2007, said Mac Juarez, spokesman for Continental Divide Electric Co-operative Inc.

An average residential customer, who uses 500 kilowatts of energy, will see the rates increase by about $3 per month, he said. Continental Divide serves 23,000 residential and commercial customers in Cibola County and a portion of McKinley County from Gallup to Zuni, he said Monday afternoon.

Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association, which provides the electricity to Continental Divide and 43 other electric co-ops in several southwestern states, is increasing its power generating costs to the co-ops, which are passing that increase along to consumers.

Tri-State is not regulated by the Public Regulatory Commission in New Mexico, in fact, Juarez said, as a power generating facility, it is not regulated by any agency.

Tri-State's increase is due to anticipated costs for this year. And, as Tri-State constructs additional facilities for generating power, costs will continue to go up for the next several years, Juarez said.

Conserve energy
One way of dealing with the increased costs is to conserve as much energy as possible, he said.

Consumers can conserve energy and reduce the monthly electric bill by unplugging items such as TVs, computers, VCR's and other electrical appliances in the home, Juarez said.

Even though a TV or computer may be turned off, if it is still plugged in, it is generating what is called a "phantom load" of electricity and becomes part of the electric bill, he said.

Another way of conserving is to spend a couple of dollars up front and purchase some 14 watt compact fluorescent light bulbs, he said. These bulbs will last for seven to nine years using its 14 watts to produce the same amount of light as a 60-watt light bulb, but not using the higher wattage.

"You will save $30 over the life of each bulb and if you replace five bulbs in your house you will save $150 (over the life span of the bulbs)," Juarez said.

Peak power usage
Part of the problem is also peak electricity use hours from 6-9 a.m. and 6-9 p.m. daily It is when people are getting up to go to work and school and coming home from work, he said.

The demand on the electric system is highest during those hours and anything any consumer can do to conserve electricity during those hours will help, he said.

The 3,100 businesses in the Continental Divide service area each use about 3,200 kilowatt hours of electricity. There are between 190-200 larger users of electricity drawing about 23,000 kilowatt hours of electricity such as hospitals and auto dealers, Juarez said.

Franchise fees to Grants
Residents in the city of Grants will also have an additional franchise fee to pay because the City Council approved a new long-term contract with Continental Divide in December.

The city is requiring the coop to pay an increased franchise fee from 2 percent to 3.5 percent of each consumer's bill to the city.

"These are costs the coop cannot afford to absorb. We are obligated to keep costs at a minimum because we are a non-profit that is owned by the people. We have been doing that for several years," Juarez stated in information provided to the Independent.

"Rising costs are now catching up with our industry."

For the 4,013 Grants customers, their franchise fee will go from 79 cents to $1.83 per month. This fee goes directly to the city of Grants.

Fuels to produce electricity, coal and natural gas have become more expensive as well and are part of the costs of doing business, Juarez said.

Anyone who has questions or wants additional information is asked to contact Juarez at Continental Divide in Grants at (505) 285-6656 or for other information, log onto the Website at www.cdec.coop and click on the Energywise Library Link.

To contact reporter Jim Tiffin, call (505) 287-2197 or e-mail: jtiffin.independent@yahoo.com.