I want to let you know about an important change coming in January 2026. Our primary wholesale power suppliers, Basin Electric Power Cooperative and East River Electric Power Cooperative, have announced rate increases of 10% to 10.8%. Because 67% of Southeastern Electric’s annual budget goes toward purchasing wholesale power, these changes mean Southeastern Electric will also need to adjust our rates by a similar amount. SEC rates will increase an average of 9% for all rate classes on January 1, 2026.
Why Is This Happening?
We understand that any increase is difficult, and we know it impacts your household and business budgets. When our suppliers raise their rates, it directly affects our costs—and we want to be transparent about why our rate increase is necessary.
How Your Dollars Are Spent
- Wholesale Power: 67% of our budget is spent on buying electricity for you.
- Indirect Expenses: 16% covers things we can’t control directly, like depreciation, interest, and taxes. Our industry requires long-term investments that are depreciated over 30+ years. This way the infrastructure is paid for by all members who use it – past, present, and future.
- Labor: 9% goes to the wages and benefits of our dedicated team of 64 employees who serve over 23,000 members every day.
- Direct Expenses: Only 5% is for controllable costs, such as line maintenance, billing, member meetings, and safety programs. We work hard to keep these expenses as low as possible without compromising service.
- Operating Margins: The remaining 3% is for operating margins required to meet the cooperative’s lender requirements. These funds are either reinvested back into the system or eventually returned to members as capital credit retirements.
What We’re Doing to Help
We know rate changes are never welcome news. That’s why our team is carefully reviewing every part of our budget to find savings and minimize the impact on you. The Board and Staff are exploring every opportunity to reduce costs.
Our Commitment to You
We are committed to keeping electricity reliable and a good value. We’re here to answer your questions and help you understand how your energy dollars are spent.
Thank you for your understanding and continued support. We’re in this together, and your cooperative team will keep working hard to serve you and our communities.
