PPEC customers to see slight rate increase

VW independent news

PAULDING – Residential customers of Paulding Putnam Electric Cooperative will soon see an increase in their monthly bills.

The Board of Trustees recently approved the 2022 operating budget and an increase in the monthly residential service charge from $32.95 to $35.

“It’s always a difficult decision to increase rates; however, due to increasing costs to provide member service, it was necessary to increase our monthly service charge,” PPEC CEO and President George Carter said. “This is our first rate increase in four years and costs have significantly increased over that time, especially due to the pandemic.”

Carter also said that wholesale power costs are the co-op’s largest expenses and they continue to increase. These are the costs associated with power generation and transmission of electricity to PPEC’s local substations.