When arctic temperatures sweep through the area, residential and business heating units work overtime to maintain the indoor temperatures desired by the occupants. Not only do the heating units run for longer periods of time, but some units also switch on internal heating elements to produce additional heat. This causes the demand for electricity to increase substantially during these times of abnormally cold weather.

For the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), this places a strain on their generating facilities to produce enough electricity to supply their 9 million plus customers in seven different states. On January 17th, as the average valley temp dipped to 12 degrees, TVA set an all time record for supplying 706,000,000 kilowatt-hours of energy over a 24 hour period. The peak demand for that day was 31,639 megawatts, which was their twelfth highest winter peak on record. As a point of reference, this amount of energy would supply Las Vegas for 88 days.

TVA and HES would like to thank area residents and businesses who looked for ways to reduce their load during the cold snap, assisting TVA in being able to supply enough electricity for all of their customers. For additional information from TVA about the January 17th record, click here.

In September 2017, the TVA Board of Directors approved a 1.5% effective retail rate increase for all of their 154 power distributors which includes Hopkinsville Electric System. This pass through to HES customers amounts to an additional $1.50 on the electric bill of the residential customer using 1,000 kilowatt-hours per month. “This modest rate increase will allow us to more effectively deal with a rapidly changing industry while lowering debt levels that directly affect our ability to continue to provide energy at the lowest feasible cost”, said TVA CEO Bill Johnson.

In addition, Hopkinsville Electric System will be implementing a 1.5% rate increase to recover our fixed cost and fund system improvements. This amounts to an additional $1.75 on the monthly electric bill of the average HES residential customer. “HES works very hard to provide the highest quality service at the lowest cost and has avoided a rate increase for over 4 years. However, this rate increase is needed to continue to provide the level of service and reliability that our customers have come to expect”, says HES/EnergyNet General Manager Jeff Hurd.

Both of these rate changes will become effective October 1, 2017 and complete details on HES electric rate schedules can be found on our website www.hop-electric.com or call 270-887-4200.