TVA sees lower fuel cost, lowering customer cost

Published 2:00 pm Wednesday, April 22, 2020

Athens Utilities logo

Some Athens Utilities customers may benefit slightly in the coming months due to the Tennessee Valley Authority’s record-low fuel costs.

The more power used, the greater the savings, an official said, but residents may not see much change at all.

“It amounts to a fraction of a cent per month,” said Athens Utilities Electric Department Manager Blair Davis. “For the residential customers, it might be anywhere from .2 to .4 of a cent. Large industrial customers are the ones who would see big savings.”

Athens Utilities is one of 100 power companies that receives power from TVA.

Some utility bills show the cost of the fuel it takes to generate the power used. That fuel comes from the uranium, coal, oil or natural gas that TVA must purchase to run its nuclear, fossil, combined cycle and combustion turbine plants to keep energy flowing, according to TVA.

Email newsletter signup

“What they are saying now is that the lower cost is because the cost of fuel is so low,” Davis said.

Regardless of how it is displayed on the power bill, all customers in the Tennessee Valley pay for the cost of fuel, TVA said. Some utilities use a separate line item to reflect the fuel cost. Others add it into the energy charges or to the total bill.

Beginning with bills on May 1, the total monthly fuel cost will be 1.415 cents per kilowatt-hour for residential and business consumers, 1.391 cents per kilowatt-hour for large manufacturing customers and 1.412 cents per kilowatt-hour for other large customers served by TVA and local power companies, TVA announced Tuesday.

Customers can visit tva.com/energy/our-power-system/total-monthly-fuel-costs for more information.