Rate Structure

Unfortunately, increases in our wholesale power costs have risen beyond our ability to absorb them.

South Carolina electric cooperatives don’t generate/make electricity. We buy wholesale power from several sources, including Santee Cooper.

Santee Cooper’s wholesale power costs are rising 20% (on average) for S.C. electric cooperatives starting in 2025. They are also raising rates for their direct-serve customers.

More than 70% of Berkeley Electric’s expenses are to purchase power, so these increases are impossible to absorb without raising rates.

In addition to rising wholesale power costs, BEC has also paid double the price for critical materials, equipment, and supplies over the past several years due to inflation.

The “Service Charge” is a flat fee covering the fixed costs of providing electricity to a member’s meter. That includes costs associated with building and maintaining the distribution system, poles, wires, substations, insurance, property taxes, and other operational costs like payroll and vehicles.

This fee spreads the shared operational costs across all members as fairly and equitably as possible, regardless of how much electricity they use. That’s why every member pays the service charge each month to cover basic operational costs. All members are charged the same amount for the cost of operation since all members benefit from the same service.

All electric utilities include some type of service charge, or facilities charge, in their pricing. This fee is often included in the energy charge and not as a separate line item on the bill.

Historically, Berkeley Electric Cooperative has undercharged for its Service Charge and recovered the difference in its cost per kWh charges. However, this can result in one rate class subsidizing costs for other rate categories.

To ensure that all members are treated fairly, the service charge has been increased to cover the true cost of delivering service for each member. Since the base rate had only a minimal increase, the largest portion of the rate adjustment is accounted for by the increased service charge which, in turn, leads to a higher percentage increase for low kWh-use members.  

• Take steps to make your home more energy-efficient. Berkeley Electric offers both the HomeAdvantage and Energy Advance loan programs to help finance large energy improvement projects. We also offer virtual and in-home energy audits free-of-charge and offer a wide range of simple energy tips.
  • NOTE - A typical home's heating and air system contributes to more than half of its monthly power bill. HVAC systems must run overtime to continuously heat and cool poorly insulated homes and those with air infiltration and ductwork issues.
• Monitor your usage on Smarthub and/or set high-usage alerts.
• Invest in a digital thermostat that can be programmed to lower electricity use during peak times.
• Switch to the co-op's Time-of-Day rate, which can save you money if you're able to shift or lower your energy use during peak hours.
• Sign up for free Beat the Peak alerts that show the projected time of a peak. Peaks typically occur on cold winter mornings and hot summer afternoons, when many people need large amounts of electricity at once. That’s when the demand for electricity and the cost is the highest.

Berkeley Electric's rates aren't rising directly because of the failed nuclear project. That debt has already been factored into the co-op's rates and makes up a small fraction of your monthly bill. 

However, there is an indirect impact on rates from the failed nuclear project. Here’s how:

After V.C. Summer’s failure, Santee Cooper agreed to a settlement that required a four-year rate freeze. That freeze has helped keep our rates stable for years, but it ended on Dec. 31, 2024.

Once the freeze ended, Santee Cooper can charge its customers, including Berkeley Electric, some $750 million for unbudgeted costs it claims it incurred during the rate freeze. That’s in addition to Santee Cooper’s other planned rate increases.

Our long-term contract requires us to pay for about 70% of Santee Cooper’s costs, but we are scrutinizing and negotiating over these rate freeze expenses to determine what’s fair for co-ops to pay.

We work with other co-ops and our partners to manage these costs and soften the impact on our members. 

We work with CEEUS, our materials supplier, to buy supplies and equipment at the lowest possible prices, in part by buying in bulk with other co-ops.

We work with Central Electric Power Cooperative, our power supplier, to negotiate the lowest possible prices for wholesale power.

We join with other co-ops to fight to better energy policy at the State House and in Congress, pushing back on regulations that drive up costs for our members.