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July 2007

Rate Adjustment Noted as New Item on July Bills

Florida Keys Electric Cooperative recently made a rate adjustment that took effect during this month's billing cycles and will appear as a new line item on your next electric bill.

For all residential and business consumers, the change will be 0.00299 cents per kilowatt hour. If this new factor had been applied to a typical May bill for 1,000 kWh, the total due would have changed from $117.94 to $120.93, or $2.99 per month for every 1,000 kWh. The adjustment will be noted as an "Equity Charge" on your bill.

Since the last adjustment in 2004, the cost of doing business has steadily increased to the point that FKEC now has to produce additional revenue to cover these costs. The rate increase will help fund our comprehensive storm hardening program to strengthen our system and will also help keep pace with the increased cost of such things as materials, services and insurance that are required to provide safe and reliable power to the Upper and Middle Keys.

The rate adjustment was reviewed and approved by the Florida Public Service Commission earlier this year. As a not-for-profit utility, we're always focused on containing costs. But our local power system must be continually maintained, strengthened, upgraded and expanded to meet our community's electricity demand.

Cost management is a primary concern of FKEC's Board of Directors and management team. We continually seek out ways to improve efficiency and reduce costs. Our commitment in this area is as strong as ever.

Residents interested in lowering their electric bills are invited to contact our member service representatives to schedule free energy audits or to sign up for the money-saving "Power Pause" program at their homes or businesses. An energy audit will help determine what steps you can take to save energy by increasing the efficiency of your home or business.

"Power Pause" is FKEC's load management program and is part of a coordinated plan developed to help meet our community's increasing energy needs. Participating consumers earn credits on their monthly bills in exchange for allowing FKEC to remotely control the cycling of qualifying high-demand appliances and electrical equipment.

For more information, call Member Service in Tavernier at 852-2431 or in Marathon at 743-5344.

Scott is an active member of the Upper Keys community and is a past president, current director and president-elect of the Rotary Club of Key Largo, is a director for the Key Largo Chamber of Commerce and is co-founder and president of the Upper Keys Golf Association.

In 1994, Scott completed the three-year national electrical course for apprentice linemen to further his education in cooperative operations. He is a graduate of Leadership Monroe County Class XI and completed the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association's Management Internship Program in 2005.

Scott graduated from Arkansas State University with a degree in Agriculture Business and Economics in 1986. In 1988, he began his career in the electricity industry when he joined the Rural Electrification Administration (REA) in Washington, D.C. With the REA, he worked first as a Commercial Loan Specialist and was later promoted to Power Requirements Officer before moving to the Florida Keys to join FKEC in 1990.