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Fuel Factor
Shenandoah Valley Electric Cooperative buys a majority of its
power requirements from Old
Dominion Electric Co-op (ODEC). This generation and
transmission Co-op is owned by 12 distribution co-ops in
Virginia, Maryland and Delaware. ODEC owns approximately half
of its power supply needs, with a coal-fired generation unit in
Halifax County and 11% of North Anna Nuclear plant. The other
half is bought from other suppliers through contracts.
ODEC's rates are regulated by the
Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission (FERC). SVEC is regulated by the
State Corporation
Commission (SCC). To protect consumers the SCC has established
a base cost of energy and allows fluctuations in that cost of
energy to be passed on through a fuel charge. To protect
consumers even more, the fuel charge above, or below, the base
charge is averaged over a 3 to 6 month period to prevent huge
fluctuations. Up until the spring of 2001, this charge to
you from SVEC had been very small, either positively and
negatively.
In 2001 the fuel charge increased to historically high levels.
Up until a few years ago, all contract purchases for ODEC were
made under Federally regulated cost of service rates. Since
then, energy purchased by ODEC has transitioned from the
regulated cost basis to deregulated market based purchases.
This meant that purchases are determined by whatever the market
will bear, not by a regulator. The energy crisis in California
is the prime example of what the market will bear.
The chart provided here indicates SVEC's per kwh fuel charge
for the past 12 months and the average fuel charge over that
period of time.
Previous 12 Months' Fuel Factor and Average Fuel Factor
| April 2008 |
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$.03715 per kwh |
| March 2008 |
|
$.03838 per kwh |
| February 2008 |
|
$.04227 per kwh |
| January 2008 |
|
$.04177 per kwh |
| December 2007 |
|
$.03699 per kwh |
| November 2007 |
|
$.03638 per kwh |
| October 2007 |
|
$.03720 per kwh |
| September 2007 |
|
$.04238 per kwh |
| August 2007 |
|
$.04004 per kwh |
| July 2007 |
|
$.03648 per kwh |
| June 2007 |
|
$.03657 per kwh |
| May 2007 |
|
$.03416 per kwh |
Average Fuel Factor for the last 12 Months = $ .0382 per kwh
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