The electricity bill you receive each month from Guthrie County REC includes much more than your cost of electricity. By that I mean, there are many parts of your bill where you may see a charge but not realize why it’s there.

This month, the new rate increase will be applied to your monthly bill. Did you know that Guthrie County REC members have not had a rate increase since 2001? Over the course of 24 years, despite inflation and other economic factors, your cooperative has been fiscally responsible with your dollars in order to avoid a rate increase.
 

In 2024, your board of directors took a long, hard look at our rate structure in comparison to the growing expenses we have running the co-op. These expenses include everything from employee salaries to poles, wires, maintenance equipment, rising power supply costs and more. As the demand for electricity continues to skyrocket, it became apparent that we all need to do our part to invest in building and maintaining a reliable energy grid.

Here are some points I want to make sure you, as a Guthrie County REC member, understand:

1. The service charge is a monthly flat charge paid by every member, regardless of the amount of electricity used.
2. A portion of the co-op’s costs are the same for members within a rate class, whether they use 50 or 2,000 kWhs per month.
3. As a not-for-profit organization, we must recover our costs of doing business and maintain sufficient margins to reinvest in our electric distribution system.
4. The “service charge” means the same as a service availability charge, access charge, customer charge, basic charge, basic service availability charge or facility charge.

With these things in mind, I want to assure you that your board of directors and co-op employees, who are also affected by this rate increase, are working in your best interests. If you have any questions about your May bill or future bills, please call the co-op at 888-747-2206 and we would be happy to go over it with you.

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Cozy Nelsen
CEO of Guthrie County REC