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Commentary As Industry Changes, So Will Electric Rates F


Chris Meyers General Manager, Oklahoma Association of Electric Cooperatives


or the vast ma- jority of electric consumers, there is little interest


in the methodology used to develop an electric rate. When the monthly electric bill arrives, we look at the total amount due and—un- less it is outside the range


of our expectations—we accept it, pay it, and go about our business. Utilities, on the other hand, take a greater interest. Over time, electric utili- ties have to modify the electric rate structure to adequately and more accurately recover costs in an ever-evolving and more complex industry landscape. There are reasons utilities have to restructure their rates. In the past, electricity was generated by serving consumers with large centralized coal, natural gas, and nuclear power plants. The utility either owned generation plant assets or had them under long-term contracts. Your power came from those plants controlled by your utility. Today, the ownership hasn’t changed but the market has. No longer does your utility’s plant necessarily supply the energy you use. Most util- ities now belong to organizations with day-ahead


energy markets. It’s a market that expands far be- yond the borders of your local supplier giving access to a larger pool of generation sources. In addition, utility scale renewables like wind and solar are playing a larger role in energy pro- duction. We have managed to accommodate re- newables into our portfolios despite their intermittent nature. The real challenge and driver for rate changes comes with consumer or “behind-the-meter” pro- duction of energy. Current rate structures were never designed to recover the cost incurred to serve “standby or backup power” for those who self-generate. Nor do current rates properly re- ward self-generators when they benefi t the grid. We have to adapt to the next form of generation even if it is a small overall contributor. For most consumers, the change from simple rate structures to more complex will go unno- ticed. The total monthly amount due in a rede- signed rate will be about the same for a large majority of consumers. And like today, most consumers won’t care about much beyond the amount due.


In the end, new rate structures should not be feared. They actually give all consumers who want to aggressively manage their energy costs a greater opportunity to do so.


Build Memories Through Traveling Y


Gary McCune President, Oklahoma Association of Electric Cooperatives


es, Virginia there is life out- side Oklaho- ma’s borders.


The theme of this issue of Oklahoma Living is travel. If my wife Yolanda and I have a hobby, it would be traveling. We have been blessed to


have had the time and resources to travel to over 35 foreign countries, six continents and all but two Canadian provinces.


Also, we told our three sons that we would take them to all 50 states before they graduated high school. We wanted them to see and experience how life and cultures were different in other parts of the country. Completion took a little longer. They were in college and we had a daughter-in- law and two grandkids before we fi nished Alaska and Hawaii, but they didn’t seem to mind mak- ing the trips. Some trips were just camping on the beach in Galveston (with mosquitoes the size of your thumb) or getting the Hilton Penthouse in Chicago for the regular rate of our room; just


4 WWW.OKL.COOP


whatever we could do at the time to fulfi ll our goal and give them those experiences. Now, it is hard to keep them home. As I write, our motorhome is headed to Daytona for the 500. Yes, I was invited, but Yolanda and I will be on the other end of the continent in San Diego. Maybe next time. We continue to take family vacations every


year, although it does get more challenging coor- dinating schedules and activities for 17 of us. We feel there are few bonding experiences that can be achieved better than spending time together and sharing new adventures. However, no matter where we had traveled, it was always a welcome sight to see our own driveway here in Stillwater. In Oklahoma, we are blessed that we don’t have to travel far for an adventure. In this issue of OKL, there are highlighted destinations close to home you can visit. Explore Oklahoma’s di- verse ecosystems from the Panhandle’s mesa and dinosaur tracks to the pine forests of southeast Oklahoma. Chances are pretty good that you will experience something you did not expect and be able to build your own travel memories. Happy traveling!


Oklahoma Association of Electric Cooperatives Chris Meyers, General Manager Gary McCune, President


Scott Copeland, Vice-President Larry Hicks, Secretary Tim Smith, Treasurer


Staff


Sid Sperry, Director of PR & Communications sksperry@oaec.coop


Anna Politano, Editor editor@okl.coop


Hayley Leatherwood, Multimedia Specialist hleatherwood@okl.coop


Shannen McCroskey, Marketing Specialist smccroskey@okl.coop


Kirbi Mills, Director of Admin. Services kmills@oaec.coop


Hillary Barrow, Admin. Services Assistant hbarrow@oaec.coop


Miguel Rios, Editorial Intern intern@okl.coop


Editorial, Advertising and General Offi ces P.O. Box 54309, Oklahoma City, OK 73154 Phone (405) 478-1455


Oklahoma Living online: www.okl.coop Subscriptions


$3.48 per year for rural electric cooperative members.


$7 per year for non-members. Cooperative Members: Report change of


address to your local rural electric cooperative. Non-Cooperative Members: Send address


changes to Oklahoma Living, P.O. Box 54309, Oklahoma City, OK 73154-1309.


Oklahoma Living (ISSN 1064-8968),


USPS 407-040, is published monthly for consumer-members of Oklahoma’s rural electric cooperatives by the Oklahoma Association of Electric Cooperatives, 2325 E. I-44 Service Road, P.O. Box 54309, Oklahoma City, OK 73154-1309.


Circulation this issue: 323,849


Periodical postage paid at Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The Oklahoma Association of Electric


Cooperatives is a statewide service organization for the following electric cooperatives: Alfalfa, Arkansas Valley, Canadian Valley, Central,


Choctaw, Cimarron, CKenergy, Cookson Hills, Cotton, East Central Oklahoma, Harmon, Indian, KAMO Power, Kay, Kiamichi, Lake Region, Northeast Oklahoma, Northfork, Northwestern, Oklahoma, Ozarks, People’s,


Red River Valley, Rural, Southeastern, Southwest Rural, Tri-County, Verdigris Valley, and Western Farmers Electric Cooperative.


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