Our Goal: Affordable Electricity for the Future

June Message from Randall Pugh
President/CEO

There's no question the cost of doing business is increasing. In spite of many energy utilities' best efforts to keep energy costs affordable, we're expecting the costs to produce electricity to increase over the next few years. Jackson EMC, like most electric utilities, is dealing with a variety of issues  that impact our costs.

As a cooperative, our operating costs are shared among the membership. That's why we work so hard to manage the cooperative's money wisely. We also believe it's important that you're informed about what's on the horizon for us as a cooperative concerning rates and legislation that will increase our rates.

Proposed new federal legislation as it's written would require 12 to 15 percent of JEMC's power to be generated by renewable sources and five to eight percent from energy efficiency by 2025. It may take years to get our cooperative in compliance with the proposed new national regulations. Environmental compliance costs for power plants will directly impact us, and there's a possibility we'll face stiff monetary penalties until we meet the new requirements. In reality, these penalties are a form of federal taxes imposed on the electric utilities throughout the country and would be used to support the federal budget for purposes not related to environmental regulatory compliances in any way.

As one of the founding members of Green Power EMC, we've been longtime supporters of renewable energy sources and energy efficient living. However, the technology to meet up to 15 percent of our energy demand through renewable sources such as wind, hydro and solar isn't there yet, and renewable generation is currently much more expensive to produce than the costs of coal or natural gas.

In the meantime, we're also evaluating our current energy mix. We've been fortunate to secure some favorable power supply contracts, allowing us to keep our electric rates stable in an unstable economy. Many industry experts agree that we could face electric rate increases over the next few years as many of those contracts will come to an end.

There are also three major pieces of legislation that could affect us:

• American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009
• America's Energy Security Trust Fund Act of 2009
• National Energy Security Act of 2009

Of these three, the American Clean Energy and Security Act is the one Georgia's cooperatives are most focused on because it will have the greatest impact on our bottom line. As we get more details about how each of these Acts will affect our cooperative, we'll discuss them in more detail with you.

On the upside, there's also opportunity. The Act provides financial support for energy efficiency promotion and products. We're waiting for the details to see if we qualify for some of that funding so that we can offer those savings to you in the form of rebates and incentive programs.

We're serving on committees, boards and task forces to be sure we stay ahead of the curve on our changing energy landscape. Be assured that when we say we're doing everything possible to offer you reliable, affordable electricity, we mean it. We're all in this together, and together we'll navigate through what lies ahead for the future of our cooperative.

Randall Pugh
President/CEO.