Families in Athens-Limestone and across the Tennessee Valley have felt the sting of higher than normal electric bills in recent months.

“We recognize the effect any cost increase has on families right now, and I can tell you that TVA is highly focused on doing everything possible to support communities by keeping power bills as low as possible,” said Doug Perry, Tennessee Valley Authority, senior vice president, Commercial Energy Solutions.

The TVA shut down the Watts Bar Nuclear Plant for routine maintenance earlier this summer and it is now operational again.

Maintenance and capital improvements in the TVA’s generating and transmission resources are a vital part of ensuring continued reliability and resiliency for TVA consumers.

“The costs of these activities are built into each year’s operational budget and, as such, are not reflected in any monthly changes to power bills,” Jim Hopson, a spokesperson for the TVA, told The News Courier.

The Watts Bar Nuclear Plant and other nuclear power plants operated by the TVA provide the largest part of the TVA’s carbon-free energy.

This makes up for approximately 60 percent of energy provided to TVA customers, including Athens Utilities.

“Because nuclear, hydroelectric, solar and wind have consistently low fuel costs, TVA’s diverse portfolio helps insulate consumers from the more significant impacts of the recent fuel market volatility,” Hopson explained.

Temperature, not maintenance and natural gas costs, is the biggest driver for power bills, says Perry.

“This summer has been a perfect storm of hot weather, record high energy demand, and rising fuel costs,” said Perry. “We’ve been using every tool in our toolbox to keep your power bill as low as possible.”

According to TVA, electric load hit a June record of 31,617 megawatts, natural gas prices are 141 percent higher this June versus last year, and this summer has been one of the hottest on record.

The TVA says they offer consumers some of the lowest electricity prices in the country and has kept electricity rates flat for the last 10 years.

According to the TVA, a power bill is made up of three parts:

1. Usage: The amount of electricity that you use each month. If it is very hot or very cold outside, you use more power to keep your family safe and comfortable. You can control this amount by making more informed energy choices.
2. Base Rates: These rates are necessary to collect the costs for generation plants, transmission from the generation plants to local power companies, and power distribution from your local power company to your home.
3. Fuel: The cost of the fuel TVA needs to generate electricity each month. To protect customers, TVA updates the fuel cost each month so you can realize the savings as fuel prices go down. TVA is a non-profit and only recovers the actual cost of fuel.

In an effort to lower electricity costs, the TVA is focusing on carbon reduction.

Decarbonization can help stabilize the risk of higher power bills due to fuel price volatility.

The TVA hopes to reduce carbon emissions by 70 percent by 2030 and 80 percent by 2035, without raising costs or impacting reliability.

It hopes to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.

TVA says consumers should start seeing lower power bills this fall due to milder temperatures and lower electric demand, giving families relief from the heat and higher bills.