Blue Ridge Electric Co-op announces new rate structure [Video]

Blue Ridge Electric Co-op has announced a new three-part rate structure for customers, which will take effect starting with a first bill in October. The company said the new structure will focus on when customers use energy and not necessarily how much customers use it. The three-part cost structure includes an account charge, an energy charge and a peak charge. The first two parts have not changed, but the peak charge is new. The account charge is a $1.10 daily operating cost.The energy charge is billed by the number of kilowatts a customer uses for the first 21 hours of the day. The new part of the structure is the peak times, which occur when customers typically use the most energy during the year. During the summer, these times are from 3-6 p.m. and during the winter, from 6-9 a.m.These hours are billed once a month, by $13 per kilowatt …