Understanding Rates
At People's Energy, we strive to provide members with reliable electric service at fair and reasonable prices which meets or exceeds industry standards for availability, quality, and continuity.
To learn more about rates associated with distributed energy resources (wind, solar, etc.), click below.
People's Energy Cooperative Rate Structures
The rates listed below apply to members whose current service location has always been part of the People's Energy Cooperative service territory.
Please note this only lists the most common rates used by members. For a full listing of rates available, contact the Cooperative.
| Rate | Details |
|---|---|
|
Single-Phase Residential Service Includes: residential homes or apartments outside of an incorporated city |
Basic Service Charge: $37/month Energy Charge: |
|
Single-Phase Urban Service Includes: residential homes or apartments within the boundaries of an incorporated city |
Basic Service Charge: $29/month Energy Charge: |
|
Small General Service Includes: farms, small grain bins or dryers, and small to medium-sized businesses |
Basic Service Charge: Energy Charge: |
|
Medium General Service Includes: farms, large grain bins or dryers, large-sized farms, medium to large size business, and industrial operations |
Basic Service Charge: Energy Charge: $0.0645/kWh Demand Charge: |
|
Off-Peak Electric Space Heating and/or Electric Vehicle Charging Includes: electric heating, electric water heaters, electric vehicle chargers |
Basic Service Charge: $5.50/month Energy Charge: $0.065/kWh |
|
Dual Fuel Space Heating Includes: electric heating, electric water heaters |
Basic Service Charge: $5.50/month Energy Charge: |
|
Single Phase Time of Use Includes: residential homes, electric vehicles |
Basic Service Charge: Based on applicable General Rate On-Peak Energy Charge*: Off-Peak Energy Charge: *On-Peak Hours are 11:00 AM to 7:00 PM Monday through Friday during June, July, and August and 4:00 PM to 10:00 PM Monday through Friday during December, January, and February except on Independence Day, Christmas Day, and New Year's Day. |
The rates listed below apply to members whose current service location was added to People's Energy Cooperative through the acquisition of the Alliant Energy Service Territory. This primarily includes the communities of Plainview, Elgin, Eyota, Dover, Stewartville and Chatfield.
Please note this only lists the most common rates used by members. For a full listing of rates available, contact the Cooperative.
| Rate | Details |
|---|---|
|
SMEC Single-Phase Residential Includes: residential homes or apartments |
Basic Service Charge: $8.59/month Energy Charge: |
|
SMEC Optional Single-Phase Residential Time of Use Includes: residential homes or apartments |
Basic Service Charge: $11.98/month Energy Charge: October-May |
|
SMEC General Metered Includes: small commercial buildings |
Basic Service Charge: $21.56/month Energy Charge: |
|
SMEC General Demand Metered Includes: medium to large commercial buildings |
Basic Service Charge: $32.34/month Energy Charge: October-May |
|
SMEC Large Power and Lighting Includes: large industrial operations |
Basic Service Charge: $252.65/month Energy Charge: October-May |
Rate Definitions
The Basic Service Charge accounts for the majority of the Cooperative's investment in poles, wires, transformers, and equipment to provide members with electric service. It supports fleet, facility, and member service functions, such as outage response, line maintenance, member service support, and administrative responsibilities.
The Energy Charge is calculated based on the metered kilowatt-hours (kWh) consumed during the billing period. The energy used to calculate this charge is also known as a member's usage.
The Demand Charge is determined by the highest amount of power, measured in kilowatts (kW), recorded by the meter during a designated period of time. This measurement resets each billing period. The charge is calculated by taking that measurement times the rate based on the time of year.
The Power Cost Adjustment reflects the increases or decreases in the Cooperative's cost to purchase and distribute wholesale power.
Frequently Asked Questions
- To identify the cost of providing service based on customer class (residential vs. commercial), type of service provided (single vs. three-phase), and energy load characteristics (the demand and capacity requirements a service puts on the system).
- To provide guidance for distributing and allocating revenue requirements to ensure equity between rate classes.
- To provide guidance when designing individual rate schedules to ensure equity within each rate class and to ensure recovery of adequate revenue to provide service required by members.
- Rates should generate the revenue required to operate the Cooperative, including appropriate operating margins.
- Rates should reflect the cost of serving consumers when the rates are in effect.
- If a consumer causes a cost to be incurred by the utility, the consumer should pay that cost.
- Consumers should pay their "fair" share of the utility's costs and margins.
Typically, members are on a rate for 12 consecutive months before being moved to another rate. There can be exceptions to this, like when a major load is added to your service, qualify it for a new rate.
To the electric utility, demand represents the amount of electrical power that must be available to consumers at any given time.
To learn more about demand and how it affects the electrical grid, click below.
Utilities are required by law to ensure they always have the ability to meet consumer demand. Having capacity readily available to meet the peak demand on the grid at all times requires significant investments in generation facilities and grid infrastructure. This cost is spread across consumers (i.e. you) who may only occasionally need this capacity to meet their building operations (likely just a few hours per year). To remain reliable in serving you with the energy your building needs, the utility must be prepared to meet the highest cumulative peak demand.
It is important to understand that the electric meter measures demand in rolling 15-minute intervals throughout the entire billing period, which is from the first day of the month to the last day of the month. For billing purposes, the highest (peak) 15-minute demand period for the month is registered.