DECEMBER POWER RATES UP A BIT WITH THE SEASON, BUT REMAIN LOW

ATHENS, Tenn. – The December power rate for local customers is edging up as expected, but just barely.

For Athens Utilities Board (AUB) and its customers, December’s residential rate will come in at $0.08518, just above the current November rate of $0.08381.

“December begins the first of four months of winter base rates, which are typically a bit higher than the transition months of October and November.  We are glad to see them stay pretty steady moving into the winter season,” said AUB’s Wayne Scarbrough.

The fall season that the utility now is in—October and November—has the lowest rates of the year.

“The good news is that rates remain essentially flat from month to month going forward into the winter season,” Scarbrough said.

AUB will have winter rates from TVA through March of next year.

Aside from watching rates closely, AUB continues to keep a close eye on the current COVID situation.

“We continue to watch COVID infections in our region go up, up, up, including more in McMinn County.  Therefore, our main office remains closed for foot traffic because the situation now is unchanged if not worse,” Scarbrough said.

“We are doing what we can at AUB to ensure we can continue to serve.  We run lean, very lean.  If we lost a couple of customer service reps or cashiers, who have the most personal interaction with customers, we’d be in a tough situation to work with customers,” he said.

“You should see a mask on any AUB employee during the workday if they are around another person.   If you see AUB people in public on AUB business not wearing masks, we want to know so that we can correct that.  We urge everyone in the area to do the same for their neighbors,” Scarbrough said.

About 83 cents of every dollar that AUB’s power division collects go to TVA for wholesale power.