Thank you to everyone who shared comments and questions about the proposed rate changes. We understand that changes to electric rates can raise real concerns about household budgets, at a time when the cost of nearly everything else is increasing.
Every comment has been or will be forwarded to our Board of Directors for consideration. Member participation and understanding are essential to the health of our cooperative, and we truly value your engagement.
This page is designed to answer some of the most common questions we’ve heard and clarify areas that need more explanation. Our goal is to ensure you have the information you need to understand how these changes work and the options available to you.
We’ve heard concerns that clean energy investments may be driving rates up, and we want to be very clear on this point: No, renewable energy is not causing this increase.
The main cost drivers today are rising expenses for grid infrastructure, transmission, and ensuring reliable backup power during high-demand and extreme-weather events.
In fact, our investments in local clean energy have helped prevent larger increases and have saved members millions of dollars compared to relying solely on market-purchased power or fossil fuel alternatives.
We understand that many members are trying to figure out when this charge will affect them and whether they can control it.
Your demand charge is based on your highest 15-minute average electricity use during the entire billing month, regardless of when it occurs.
For many households, that peak often happens in the evening, but it depends on your specific usage patterns.
Many working families have shared that they don’t have the flexibility to avoid using electricity during evening peak hours, and we hear that concern.
By applying the demand charge across the full day rather than only during peak hours, we can:
Additionally, not all of our demand-related costs are based on peak hours. Some parts of our grid are built to provide power based on individual demand, such as the transformer and wire size needed to serve an individual home or business.
We recognize this approach may not eliminate all impacts, but it does help limit the overall charge and reduce sharper bill swings for many households.
We know no one wants higher bills, and we want to be transparent about the alternatives that were considered. Other options that were considered included:
A Demand Charge better reflects how grid costs actually occur, during short periods when the system must be built to handle high usage. This approach helps ensure all members are contributing to the system capacity we all rely on, while still offering ways to manage and reduce bills.
Looking ahead, we anticipate continuing to align rates with our true cost of providing service, which may mean gradual shifts toward lower energy charges and higher demand and customer charges.
If everyone used all their appliances at once for even one minute, we would have to build enough grid capacity to meet that demand, even if it happened only once.
We know demand charges can feel unfamiliar and confusing at first.
Each month, we look at your highest 15-minute average electricity use (measured in kilowatts, or kW) and multiply it by the demand rate, currently proposed at $1.00 per kW for Small Residential and Small Commercial members.
Example: If you are a Small Residential member and your peak demand is 5 kW, your demand charge for that month would be $5.
Many members ask what changes, if any, can realistically make a difference, and we recognize not everyone has the same flexibility.
Some helpful strategies include:
Reducing how much electricity you use at once helps lower strain on the grid and your demand charge. Even small, consistent adjustments can make a difference
We hear that members want clearer visibility into when and how demand occurs.
EV owners have shared understandable concerns, especially since EV charging can represent a large, but flexible, electrical load.
To help reduce the impact on your bill:
If you do a significant amount of EV charging at home, you may benefit from our optional Time-of-Use rate, which features a lower “off-peak” Energy Charge and a higher “on-peak” Energy Charge, with no separate Demand Charge.
We recognize that rate changes affect households differently, and that flexibility, schedules, and resources vary widely. Our commitment as your cooperative is to:
Thank you for taking the time to engage with us as a valued member of Holy Cross Energy.
Have additional comments or questions?