Contact: NOVEC Public Relations, 1-888-335-0500, customerservice@novec.com

NORTHERN VIRGINIA – A request by the Northern Virginia Electric Cooperative to reduce and modify the Co-op's rates and fees was approved by the Virginia State Corporation Commission on July 27, 2011. The changes will, in general, reduce rates NOVEC charges its customers by 4.5 percent. Average residential customers using 1,200 kilowatt hours per month will see about a $5 reduction on their monthly bills, compared to rates in effect prior to NOVEC's original rate-reduction application.

Gil Jaramillo, manager of NOVEC Business Development and Energy Services, says, "We will implement our new rates beginning the first billing cycle in October 2011. And the Co-op will make a one-time refund to customers on their October bills to reflect the difference in NOVEC's proposed rates and the final rates approved by the Commission." 

When NOVEC proposed the rate reduction, Co-op President/CEO Stan Feuerberg told the SCC in pre-filed testimony that NOVEC had balanced cost-containment measures and high safety standards with its duty as a public utility and a not-for-profit cooperative. He pointed out that NOVEC's financial strength had allowed it to return to customers more than $273 million since Jan. 1, 2000, in CashBack (patronage capital) dollars. 

"NOVEC's ability to maintain such a strong financial footing during the worst economic downturn in decades has resulted from cost-containment initiatives by the Cooperative's management, and the extraordinary skill and dedication of NOVEC's well-trained employees," Feuerberg explained. "For example, NOVEC is currently serving nearly twice as many customers with 4 percent fewer employees than it did 20 years ago, while maintaining the highest reliability in the metro area." 

Feuerberg noted that NOVEC is not a typical rural electric cooperative because it operates in suburban Northern Virginia where "vibrant commercial and residential growth is the norm." He said NOVEC's system load has increased despite the sluggish economy in recent years. 

Although the ruling allows overall rates to decrease, the SCC has allowed certain charges and fees to increase, including the monthly service charge, meter reconnection fee, and street lights maintenance fee. 

Jaramillo emphasizes that NOVEC's base rates have not changed for 20 years: "The overall cost of generating and delivering electricity has remained remarkably low compared to other commodities, such as gasoline and food, which have increased significantly in the last two decades." 

Jaramillo says the rate changes will aid NOVEC's efforts to provide more "green" renewable-power options to customers while not placing a financial burden on the Cooperative. He notes that NOVEC is in the process of building a renewable energy biomass power plant near South Boston, Va. 

"All in all, the rate changes will help NOVEC manage growth and overall power-supply costs effectively for our customers while maintaining high standards of reliability and safety," Jaramillo explains.