Like many of you I worry sometimes. Even though the Good Book suggests “worry” is a futile endeavor, I worry about the well-being of my family, the condition of our country and I am always concerned about the hazards facing our crews. However, one thing I have never worried about is how well the cooperative model works; a grassroots effort with local people providing electricity to friends and neighbors with service, not profit, as the ultimate goal.

Last year about this time, we announced the first rate adjustment for BREC members since 2016. We didn’t sugar-coat anything, because as a member you deserve the facts.  At the time, I worried that 2024 would require another adjustment, but hoped conditions in the electric industry would improve. Unfortunately, they have not. In December, we were notified by our power supplier that due to increasing demand for energy and higher costs to generate it, our cost of power was going up. The cost of power is BREC’s largest single expenditure by far, and when that increase is combined with material costs that have gone up as much as 120%, it unfortunately means a rate increase is necessary.

Beginning with bills due April 10th, the service availability charge will increase by $3 per month and kilowatt-hour costs will also increase slightly. Combined, the increase amounts to approximately thirty-three cents more per day, for residential members using 1,500 kwh per month.

The stable cost of electricity that we have grown accustomed to over the last two decades, is changing. The electric industry is at a point of convergence.  Increasing demand for electricity (think the electrification of everything - industry, transportation, manufacturing processes) is bumping into the regulatory push to replace dispatchable baseload generation with more intermittent renewable power.  In short, demand is on the rise and supply is racing to keep up. College was a long time ago, but I remember that increasing demand with a similar level of supply creates cost pressures. I am concerned about what these market dynamics will mean to BREC members moving forward.

Fortunately, we don’t have to worry about how our Missouri electric cooperative system will approach the future. Your three-tied generation, transmission and distribution system is member-centric, always trying to do right by our members. You can know that when costs go up, the purpose is not profit, but to ensure we can provide you with safe, reliable electricity every time you flip a switch. We will approach the future the way we have for more than 85 years, with our members and our mission in mind at all times.