FLORENCE, Ala. — Those who receive power through the Tennessee Valley Authority will see their rates go up this October.
The TVA Board on Thursday approved a 5.25 percent increase -- its second rate hike in as many years.
The 7-1 vote took place during the quarterly meeting, held at the Marriott Shoals Conference Center in Florence. TVA Director Michelle Moore was the dissenting vote.
The Board did not engage in public discussion. A feedback session had taken place a day earlier at the same location.
Rate committee chairman Wade White recommended the base rate change, which is expected to add more than $900 million in revenue each year.
For most residential customers, it will amount to about $4 more on their monthly bill.
"We're very mindful of our rate competitiveness, and we look at the rate of our electricity relative to our peers to make that determination," Wade said in his presentation Thursday. "(In 2019) we were the ninth lowest among regional peers, and we have moved to fourth. So our rates over this time period have become more competitive."
Some advocacy groups opposed the increase, which follows a 2023 rate hike of 4.5 percent.
“People across the Tennessee Valley will see electric bills increase because their public power utility has spent their hard-earned money on plans that it refuses to release to the public," said Maggie Shober, Research Director with the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy. "But what is perhaps most disappointing is the fact that the people of the Tennessee Valley have never known anything different."
The Southern Alliance for Clean Energy is asking Congress to increase transparency in TVA resource planning.