Manager’s Message – April 2022
Dear Co-op Community Members:
Across the country, we are feeling the pressures of increased costs. Prices are fluctuating at our grocery stores and particularly at the gas pump. Unfortunately, these costs impact us all, businesses and consumers. At Lane Electric, we are currently being impacted by the rising costs of goods and services we use in our daily operations.
There are two ways as a not-for-profit public utility we can increase revenue to cover business operations. One way is through an increase to our kWh charges, while the other is to adjust our basic charge. The basic charge covers our fixed costs, which is where we are seeing the current increases. For members, a change to the basic charge is more predictable on their monthly electricity bills, as it is a fixed cost that does not fluctuate with extreme temperature changes.
To help cover these increased costs, our board of directors has voted to increase the basic charge for all rate classes. Bills generated on or after May 1, 2022, will see a $1.50 increase to their basic charge. We know these increases are hard and we don’t take rate adjustments lightly, but this change is necessary to cover our operating expenses. Members should have also received a letter in the mail detailing the rate changes.
Additional information will be provided on our website at www.laneelectric.com. We understand the economic challenges our members face and will continue working to control costs by operating safely and efficiently to provide the most reliable electric service possible. For more information about financial assistance options, please contact us at (541) 484-1151. To qualify, household income must be at or below 60% of Oregon’s median income.
We truly appreciate your understanding as we balance our business expenses and keep our rates as low as possible for our members.
On another note, we are excited to announce we will be having an in-person annual meeting this year at Lane Electric headquarters! More details will follow, but for now, we want you to save the date for our meeting on Thursday, May 19. We are excited to see our members in person and talk about Lane Electric. We appreciate you!
Sincerely,
Debi Wilson
