As we prepare for 2024, it’s important that we not just look at the ups and downs of the last year but reflect on a lifetime of highs and lows. Whether it was the good days or the bad days, we learn from every step of the journey. I’m reminded of Micah 6:8, which says that God requires 3 things of us: to do what is right, love mercy, and walk humbly with him.
It can be hard to keep those in mind every day. But as we start this new year my challenge to you is to accomplish those 3 things in your professional and personal lives even when people might try to pull your focus elsewhere. We’re being told the biggest threat to mankind is climate change. When people say things like this, I also encourage you to explore the subject yourself and not take what someone else says at face value.
1 trend we’re seeing as part of that is the push to go to electric vehicles, or EVs. When I’ve covered this issue in past columns, I’ve said that if it’s a good thing then the American people will support it. If EVs are a bad thing then they won’t. You might ask yourself if EVs are a good thing for an electric utility since we want to sell electricity. They can be if the utility controls when customers are using that electricity.
The key word there is control. Your electric cooperative does not want to control when you use electricity. We would rather set up price signals or rates and allow our members to control their electric usage. As I mentioned earlier, it is good for us to give up control to God. But you can make up your mind whether it’s good to give up control for the government to tell us to drive only EVs. 1 recent paper from the Texas Public Policy Foundation argued that when you factor in the cost of charging equipment and government subsidies, driving an EV costs the equivalent of paying $17 per gallon for a gas-powered vehicle.
I’ve said before that if subsidies are required to promote something it must not be altogether good. But sometimes the government does help provide necessary services, like when your cooperative was founded in 1937. Capitalism would not invest in rural electric systems because the return on that investment was too low, so the government stepped in. However, all the money the cooperative received to build the electric system gets paid back with interest. So I don’t look at that program as a subsidy.
This leads me to some changes our members will see in their electric bill this year. Electric rates have always been broken into a fixed charge that accounts for the cost of building and maintaining the electric system, a demand charge that varies based on the maximum electricity you need at a point in time and a kilowatt hour charge for the amount of electricity you consume over a set period, usually a month.
Looking back over the last year, the inflated cost of electrical equipment has been a financial hindrance to your cooperative. Items like transformers cost 5 times what they did before the pandemic, which puts a greater weight on the fixed cost in your bill.
That’s why we’re exploring a new bill statement that will break out these different charges in a way that is easy for you to read. When you know where each charge comes from, you can have more control over your usage. Moving forward, saving money will be less about simply cutting back on the kilowatt hours you use and more about when you use them.
So, be aware that if you decide to buy an EV and charge it at home, choosing when to charge it will be important. If the electric rates are set up for EVs, then charging it outside of peak hours will have a major impact on making it more affordable to drive. It’s all about keeping our members better informed, which puts the power in your hands.
That power brings me back to what some would say is the biggest threat to mankind. In my mind, it isn’t climate change. The most critical threat to each of us is not knowing who our savior is. If we know that, he can guide us through any challenges we might face. Climate change can’t do that. Until next month, be safe.