Extreme Cold 

Reminder Extreme Temps Drive-Up Members Electricity Usage

Winter brought extreme cold weather to our area, which prompted record low temperatures and increased electricity usage in the middle of February. As a result, some LREC members will experience high-than normal electric bills. 

How does this happen?

Heating and air conditioning can make up over 55% of your home's electric bill. When it is extremely hot or cold, it takes more energy to keep the inside of your home at the temperature you have set on your thermostat. 

Energy usagekWh is especially higher in homes that are heated with electricity and structures that are not well-insulated. Mobile homes are especially at risk of high bills during the winter months because often they are both all-electric homes and cold air gets under the homes where it well insulated. Older homes also have gaps in window and door seals as well as siding that allows cold outside temperatures in, making the heating have to work harder to keep the temperature inside warm. 

During extended cold periods, space heaters, electric fireplaces, and electric blankets all require a significant demand for electricity, causing high usages on members' accounts. 

If you set your thermostat to 68 degrees in the winter when it is only 18 degrees outside, your heating system has to work very hard to make up that 50-degree difference. Your HVAC system and water heater work harder and cycle on and off more often, making your kWh usage much higher.  This means your bill will be higher. 

Did LREC rates go up? 

LREC rates have NOT gone up since 2018 (click here to see rates). We work tirelessly to keep our rates down for our members as a non-profit electric cooperative. With this being said the (PCA) power cost adjustment on your billing statement will have to be reviewed after this historic event/system peak. We will not know the full cost of these subfreezing temperatures or what this event is going to cost the co-op from our generating provider until a later time.

Remember LREC is a not-for-profit cooperative, committed to protecting the financial interest of our whole membership. We will do everything we can to keep any increase in cost from our power provider from flowing through to our member's bills. 

Remember, energy use, which is the consumption of electricity, was substantially higher than normal. This is separate from the price. The price will remain the same until we fully understand the cost and impact of this system peak. 

What can I do now? 

Prepare your home or business now for the next winter blast or extreme heatwave this summer. Consider adding necessary insulation in your attic to keep rising warm air from escaping through your roof. Also, call a professional HVAC technician to inspect and repair your system and be sure to change its filters once a month. Use caulk or weather stripping to close holes around doors, windows, outlets and trim where conditioned air can escape.

Use the SmartHub app to track energy use. You can also use SmartHub to set up notifications for power usage alerts to see when your electricity use is unusually high.

• Levelized billing can help to make your electric bills more consistent. Instead of seeing higher bills in the winter and summer with low bills in the spring and fall, you will have a more consistent bill throughout the year. Keep in mind, Levelized billing is based on a twelve-month rolling average. That means extreme energy use swings may change your monthly payment. Call our billing dept at 918-772-2526 to set up Levelized Billing. 
• Prepaid billing option that puts you in control of your electric bill, you can see daily usage and pay the amount and when you want. 
• Most importantly, if your bill is high and you’re unable to pay it, please contact LREC to explore your options.