We got a typically taut and clear email from Management yesterday about our electric bill.

From what I can gather, the part of our electric bill determined by ConEd for delivery is going up 20% and the part of our electric bill determined by contract for the power itself is going up 22%.

Here it is in full … if you know what to make of this, please comment below.

October 28, 2014

Dear East River Cooperators,

You will be receiving your carrying charges bill in the next day or two. Part of the bill shows your electricity usage. The price of electricity is determined by two factors, one is the commodity which is the electricity itself and the second is the delivery cost. Since Con Ed owns the electric lines it is the one who determines what the delivery charge will be. The commodity portion is a fixed cost since we have a contract with Direct Energy/HESS. This contract was bid out with the three lowest bidders being Plymouth Energy, Con Ed Solutions and Direct Energy/HESS which won the bid at 10.51¢/kWh. This was approximately two cents higher than the previous contract of the three years ago which was 8.59¢/kWh.

The problem is that we cannot get a contract from Con Ed to lock in the delivery cost, it fluctuates each month. They have no competition and they can charge what they wish based on the tariffs of the public service commission.

The bill you are receiving now is for the electric usage for the month of September. The delivery cost was 15.5¢/kWh. The previous month of August was 12.9¢/kWh and in July it was 12.25¢/kWh. This is the highest electricity cost that we have ever had. The cost this month will be 26.8¢/kWh including delivery, commodity (electricity) and taxes.

If you have any questions please feel free to e-mail our office at contact@coopvillage.coop, or call me at 212-677-5858.

Thank you.

Harold Jacob
General Manager