From the Board President on Rates

Like you, I don’t like higher bills. As president of Access Energy Cooperative’s Board of Directors, I really don’t like the fact that our member-owners are going to pay more for electricity beginning this month. 
 
“I can understand your frustration,” is what I say and genuinely feel when one of the people to whom Access Energy Cooperative provides electricity to expresses concerns about higher electric bills, because I feel frustrated, too. The price for wholesale power, which Access Energy Cooperative buys to keep member-owners’ lights on and power flowing, continues to get more expensive. In the last five years, the cost of wholesale power has gone up 69 percent.
 
Those costs are out of consumers’ and Access Energy’s control; but what consumers can control is how electricity is being used, and cut down on their usage of energy. To help you do that, we’ve implemented the Take Control and Save Program to provide new rebates for efficient heating and cooling systems and Energy Star appliances. We also have free energy audits to help you learn more ways to save.
 
Another cost that could be out of your and my control is the tax Congress is considering that, if passed, could lead to an increase of $100 a month in the average American family’s electric bill, according to the Tax Foundation, a Washington, D.C.-based, nonprofit, nonpartisan tax education group. If that concerns you as much as it does me, please contact the legislators who represent you in our nation’s capitol. It only takes a couple of minutes when you go to the Our Energy, Our Future web site at www.ourenergy.coop or send us the coupon above and we will make it easier for you. When you sign up, an e-mail or a letter expressing your concern about the cost of electricity will be sent to Sen. Grassley, Sen. Harkin and your congressman.
 
Again, I don’t like higher electric bills any more than you do, so I’m hoping you’ll take advantage of the programs your cooperative provides to help you save energy. I also hope you can take a couple of minutes to let Congress know you expect them to take actions that keep electric bills affordable.