Alabama Power announces second rate hike in as many months

Greg Bailey, The Gadsden Times
·2 min read

Alabama Power Co. on Tuesday announced a rate increase for its customers, effective with their January bills.

A news release from the company said the rate hike, which “will be about $6.81 for the typical residential customer using 1,000-kilowatt hours per month,” was approved earlier in the day by Alabama’s Public Service Commission.

The increase was primarily blamed, according to the company, on “compliance with federal requirements, as well as unprecedented inflation and economic conditions.”

The company said in the news release, “These federal mandates and regulations, with which the company and utilities across the country must comply, continue to put pressure on customer costs.”

It added, “Our customers expect us to deliver reliable and resilient energy 24/7, 365 days a year. In order to best serve our customers, we must prepare for the future.”

Alabama Power last month announced an increase of roughly $10 a month that took effect in December, on the heels of a roughly 5% hike announced in July and instituted in August.

As with the most recent increase, the utility urged customers to visit www.alabamapower.com, call 800-245-2244 or stop by a local Alabama Power office to go over options that can lessen the impact of the hike’s increase. Those include:

• Enrolling in a time-of-use rate, based on the time of day when the most electricity is used and avoiding using major appliances simultaneously; information can be obtained at AlabamaPower.com/TimeAdvantage;

• Customers can enroll in My Power Usage at AlabamaPower.com to get daily and monthly use readings and projected bill amounts, and set up email alerts when usage hits a set dollar amount;

• Budget billing allows customers to avoid seasonal variations in electric costs through an averaged monthly bill based on annual use;

• Medicaid recipients can save $14.50 a month on power bills; call 800-257-2726 for information;

• Assistance from local Community Action agencies; visit alabamapower.com/paymentassistance;

• Monthly contributions from Project SHARE, administered by the Salvation Army, are available for low-income and elderly customers.

More information on saving money and lessening electrical use can be obtained at AlabamaPower.com/Winterize.

This article originally appeared on The Gadsden Times: Alabama Power announces another rate increase