ROLLING HILLS DRIVERS

The good news is that through KEPCo, a cap has been set for the month of February usage to $0.033 per kilowatt hour used for the Power Cost Adjustment Factor. This is where our members will see the price adjustments for the energy emergency crisis. POWER COST ADJUSTMENT: Our power supplier, KEPCo, determines this adjustment every month which is dependent upon the fluctuating costs of fuels.

ROLLING HILLS DRIVERS

Space heating and water heating are the two biggest drivers of energy use in most households, accounting for over 50% of a home’s energy use during the winter months.The normal rates will apply for this usage. ACTUAL USAGE COST: Your bill for February will more than likely be higher simply due to increased energy usage to heat homes during the extreme cold weather.What’s going to happen to my electric bill? When demand exceeds supply, grid operators have the authority to mandate rolling blackouts like some of our members experienced a couple weeks ago. Grid operators, like the SPP, operate with a focus on the overall reliability of the electric grid.Our office was given no warning or notification of the rolling blackouts that were implemented until the moment the power went out. Power is controlled at high voltage transmission lines, which Rolling Hills does not own.The record cold temperatures forced the electric industry to take extreme steps to prevent catastrophic damage to the power grid.The SPP declared and broadcasted that they had enacted an Energy Emergency Level 1 that began Sunday evening, February 14th, to ask all electric consumers to conserve energy.The SPP has never in its existence had to implement rolling blackouts and has never dealt with this extreme type of phenomenon.It will take the SPP up to 120 days to go through the transactions to determine final costs and even then, with regulatory agencies, state and federal politicians in the mix, the process could take longer to determine final cost. The SPP handles many power transactions in any given timeframe.The SPP does not generate electricity, own power lines or substations, but rather is tasked with operating the power grid in a safe and reliable manner.The SPP oversees the bulk electric grid and manages the reliability for a 14-state region that includes Kansas.What is the Southwest Power Pool (SPP) and why is it important? This escalated demand and depleted supply causing the price for natural gas to drastically increase during this timeframe.

Natural gas is the fuel of choice to replace renewables, which was already in short supply because people were using it to heat their own homes as well.

During the extreme cold, renewable energy generators (e.g., wind generation) were not able to produce placing stress on the natural gas market that was tasked with making up for the energy shortage.

Some natural gas plants were not equipped to handle the extreme cold which left the supply frozen in the ground.

Depletion of natural gas supply created high prices during a short timeframe.

Power generation by natural gas was an issue at this time due to the following main issues:.

Emergency situations were quickly declared by the Southwest Power Pool (SPP) which forced many electric cooperatives into rolling outages due to the inability of electric generation supply to meet demand.

A mid-February Polar Vortex outbreak caused historically low temperatures and ice/snow to grip many regions of the country, stressing both electric generating capacity and the ability of the transmission grid to move power from state to state and region to region.

The good news is that Rolling Hills believes that we were protected more so than other utilities because we had less exposure to the market during this time. There is a lot of information being circulated and so we want to communicate to our members what you can expect to see on your bills in the coming months. Over the past couple of weeks, there have been many discussions and meetings on the recent Polar Vortex phenomenon that occurred causing the rolling outages that some of our members experienced a couple of weeks ago. Box 339 | 3075B US Highway 24, Beloit, Kansas 67420 | 785.534.1601Īs a Rolling Hills Electric Cooperative member, your best interest is always at the forefront of our operations.

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