Monthly utility bills can be tough to read. You might wonder what certain charges mean and why you’re paying them. That’s why, starting with the bill you’ll receive in April 2020, we are redesigning your Midwest Electric bill format so the total due is more prominent at a glance, and all the charges are unbundled and easily identifiable. Each charge will be listed as a separate line item for additional transparency. 

None of these things are new charges or increases; it’s the same charges you’ve been paying since Aug. 2010. Here is a brief description of each charge, or you can click here to see a new bill compared to your old bill:

Community Connection Fund:
88% of Midwest Electric members round up their electric bill to the next highest dollar, with those pennies going to our Community Connection Fund. Since 1998, more than $1.1 million has been raised and ALL OF THOSE FUNDS have been donated to local charitable causes such as fire departments, food pantries, libraries, playgrounds, and more. NO administrative fees are taken. A separate board of Midwest Electric members reviews applications and makes fund decisions.

Power Cost Adjustment:
This is not directly a Midwest Electric charge, but reflects changes in the cost we have to pay for the generation and transmission of electricity. Items paid by the Power Cost Adjustment include the cost of fuels to generate electricity; high voltage transmission to move the electricity from the generating plant to our local substation; and peak demand costs when electric use is high for all members. You can lower this charge through energy efficiency measures, including our energy audits. You can also help us manage this charge by joining our load management program.

Service Charge: (Click here for a full description) 
This is a flat monthly charge to pay the fixed costs of an electric distribution system, including poles, wires, substations, transformers, meters, tree trimming, pole testing, interest, depreciation, as well as the cost of repairs, maintenance, and upgrades. The Service Charge helps pay for electric reliability investments.

Ohio KWH electric tax:
This is levied by the State of Ohio. It averages around $0.004 per kWh. We simply collect it from you and pass it all on to Columbus.
Energy charge: This shows the number of kilowatt-hours (kWh) you used during this billing period (typically 30 days), times our electric rate. You can lower this charge through energy efficiency measures, including our energy audits.

We are also including a snapshot of your electric usage history and the average temperature with each bill so you can compare the current month’s use to the last month and the same month of the year prior. We hope this will help members understand why their bills increased or decreased, as they can analyze what they did differently in their home each month (and see how weather impacts their bill). 

You can get more detailed electric use history, including your daily and hourly use history, by logging into your SmartHub account or mobile app.

Have questions? Call 800-962-3830. Let us help you understand the bill you receive each month.