Lucedale, Miss. – On December 7, 2006, Singing River Electric Power Association will begin implementation of a rate adjustment for all customer classes.

“In order to maintain the quality, reliability and integrity of the services we provide and to ensure our charges are closer to the true cost of providing service, it is necessary for us to adjust our pricing structure,” said Singing River Electric General Manager and CEO Lee Hedegaard.

The most notable change in the residential and small general service rates is a conversion from a fixed monthly customer charge to a daily customer charge. This will ensure accounts setting up or closing during the month will only pay for days of service utilized.

As with any change in rate structure, some members will see slightly higher costs while some will see slightly lower costs. Kilowatt-hour usage is always the determining factor in a member’s bill. As a result, a typical residential member using 1400 kilowatt-hours a month will increase 3 percent from $134.08 to $138.12.

While virtually all aspects of today’s cost of living continue to rise, your cooperative works to avoid price adjustments. “Singing River Electric and its members have enjoyed one of the longest periods of rate stability,” said Hedegaard. “Our adjusted residential rates continue to be one of the lowest in the south Mississippi.”

Singing River Electric continues to manage power costs by working with South Mississippi Electric Power Association, a generation and transmission cooperative, to purchase a diversified mix of fuel sources. Managing power costs is important because 75 percent of the cooperative’s total budget is made up of purchased power. By purchasing a blend of owned and contracted resources to generate electricity that utilize coal, nuclear, natural gas, fuel oil and hydro power, the cooperative continues to maintain competitive energy prices

“This diversified fuel mix is expected to pay off for our members,” said Hedegaard. “Our preliminary 2007 budget projects we will not see an increase in the wholesale power cost adjustment next year.”

Singing River Electric adjusted rates will be posted on our website at www.singingriver.com beginning Monday, December 4.

“We value our members and place a strong emphasis on providing them with exceptional service,” Hedegaard said. “By moving toward the true cost of providing service, educating our members about their cooperative and gearing up conservation awareness, we are partnering with our members to manage energy costs year round.”