Coleman says NAEC rates will see increase

Members of North Arkansas Electric Cooperative can expect to see a higher bill later this spring. The local energy provider has announced a total rate increase of 12.4% will go into effect sometime after April 1.

The cooperative’s part of the increase will be 9.4%, but that will go into effect at the same time as a wholesale 3% increase from the Arkansas Electric Cooperative Corporation. NAEC Chief Executive Officer Mel Coleman says the bill can be difficult to decipher.

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Coleman says one of the reasons for the increase was to maintain the cooperative’s credit rating. He adds one of the factors in leading to the higher rates is inflation, but another is the attacks on coal fire-generating plants.

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When averaging out the bills of NAEC members, the extra cost should be somewhere in the vicinity of $15 to $18 each month. Coleman says the last rate increase went into effect in either 2020 or 2021, during the coronavirus pandemic.

Coleman says the local cooperative is far from being the only energy provider that has experienced rate increases in recent times.

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Coleman says it’s currently unclear if the increase will go into effect in April or later on in May.

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