Electric rates are going up 10 percent

Everybody’s electric rates will be going up 10 percent, effective Nov. 1.

Specifically, they will increase from five and one-half cents to six cents per kilowatt hour, according to Randy Cornelius, general manager for the Orcas Power and Light Cooperative. Both residential and commercial users will be affected.

Basic fees will also be going up, and by about 5 percent, from $21 to $22 per month.

The average household uses 1000 kilowatt hours of electricity in a given month, Cornelius said. The home utilizing that amount of electric power will see its monthly rates increase by $6.50.

Cornelius feels that OPALCO has no choice but to raise rates. “I don’t like to do it, but our reserves are way down,” OPALCO General Manager explained. The OPALCO board agreed with his assertion, approving the rate hike at its Sept. 18 meeting. The main reason rates are going up is to pay for new projects, the costs of which will come to $2.4 million, Cornelius said. The projects were recommended by the engineering firm SSR Engineers, Inc., of Missoula, Montana.

Much of the money will go for two new submarine cables, one between Decatur and Blakely islands, and the other between Blakely and the east side of Orcas island. The Decatur - Blakely cable is of particular concern to OPALCO. “It has been failing for some years,” Cornelius said. There is a second cable which enables OPALCO to continue transmitting electric power between those two islands, but that cable was placed in the water back in 1951, and will also need to be replaced soon, he explained.

Still more money will be needed to remove submarine cables between Shaw and Lopez, and Shaw and Orcas, that were abandoned by OPALCO some time ago.

With increases in the cost-of-living, and a lack of cash reserves caused by many other projects carried out by OPALCO over the past few years, both Cornelius and the board concluded that a rate hike is necessary. The money should bring OPALCO an additional $1 million a year.

OPALCO buys its electric power wholesale, from a federal agency, the Bonneville Power Administration. Bonneville’s rate won’t change until 2006, when it is projected to increase by 30 percent. Cornelius said OPALCO needs to be preparing now for that eventuality.

Comment on this story.

COMMENTING RULES: We encourage an open exchange of ideas in our online community, but we ask you to follow our guidelines for respecting community standards. In a nutshell, don't say anything you wouldn't want your mother to read.