What is a Facility Charge?
| Clearwater Power Company’s service territory is much more rural and has a much lower population density than the typical investor owned utility (IOU) that serves in the urban areas. Because of this sparse density (just over 3 members per mile of power line), about half of your power bill goes to the actual purchase of electrical energy. |
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| The other half goes to maintenance of the power lines and the fixed costs of operating the utility including maintenance of lines, poles, substations, rights-of-way, interest expense, insurance, taxes, trucks and equipment, billing, administrative and miscellaneous services. The facility charge is a contribution toward those fixed costs of operation and maintenance. |
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| The amount of electricity you use may vary from month to month but these facility costs are fixed. They occur whether you use the power or not. According to a recent analysis at Clearwater Power, the facility costs for each residential account averages $78 per month per account. At Clearwater Power, we compromise and only charge a facility charge of $18 per month. The rest of the $78 must be recovered in the electric rate. This is one of the reasons why when you use over 1,600 kilowatt-hours (kWh) in a month, the remaining kWhs are sold at a lesser rate. After 1,600 kWh, the facility charge for the month has been satisfied and the remaining energy is less expensive. |