Residents may soon feel the impact of January’s deep freeze in their wallets, as higher wholesale power prices are expected to push up electric bills this spring.
Village of Penn Yan officials say the cost of electricity purchased on the open market rose sharply during the cold snap. Because the village’s municipal electric department must pass those supply costs directly to customers, the increases will likely begin appearing on bills as soon as March.
Officials emphasized that the department does not control the price of electricity itself, only the delivery system. The added costs will show up on bills under the Purchase Power Adjustment Charge, or PPAC, which reflects the actual cost of power supply and transmission.
The village said advance power purchasing through the New York Municipal Power Agency helped soften the impact, and without those steps, rates could have been about 30 percent higher. Even with the increase, officials say municipal electric rates remain roughly one-third to one-half lower than those charged by larger utility companies.
Customers are encouraged to cut back on electricity use when possible and consider energy-saving measures such as improving home insulation or upgrading heating systems to help manage costs.
