Electricity is measured in units known as kilowatt-hours (kWh). Your total bill will depend on both the price of the electricity ($/kWh) and the amount that you consume (kWh). Generally speaking, your monthly electric bill is calculated by multiplying the cost of a kilowatt-hour by the number of kilowatt-hours used. While the average Indiana residential customer uses approximately 1,100 kWh per month, you may find that your use is higher or lower depending on many factors including the number and types of appliances used in your home, the number of people who live in your home, the type of heating/cooling equipment you have in your home, your home's insulation level and air infiltration rate and the weather conditions throughout the year. You can determine your average monthly usage by looking over past electric bills.

Additional components of your bill may include:

• a facility charge - the amount you pay to help maintain the lines that bring the power to your home
• a fuel cost adjustment - like the price of gasoline for your car, the cost of fuel used in power plants to produce electricity can fluctuate - your REMC may use a fuel cost adjustment to recover the cost of that fuel when it goes up - or down
• Taxes - any local, state or federal taxes required to be paid

How do you know what price per kWh you are paying? You can look at your bill - it may be calculated for you. If not, you can take your total bill and subtract the facility charge and any taxes and fuel cost adjustments to get a total. Divide that total by the number of kWh you used. In the example below, $128.94 - $23.33 (Fuel adjustment) - $15.00 (customer charge) = $90.61 $90.61 / 1153 = $.078 per kWh

In the next example, different amounts of energy used are charged at different rates. Some co-ops use what are called "declining block rates." This means that the more energy you use, the less you pay for each "block" of energy. In the example, the customer used 1153 kWh in the month. The first 400 kWh were billed at the rate of $.105. The next 400 kWh were billed at the rate of $.073. The final 353 kWh were billed at the rate of $.055. The total energy bill is $90.62. When you add in the $15 per month customer charge (or facility charge) and the fuel adjustment charge of $23.33 (1153 kWh x $.02023) the total bill due to the REMC is $128.94.

If you have any questions about how your bill is calculated or what your co-op rates are, please contact your co-op customer service representative.

* Information courtesy of Massachusetts Consumer Affairs and Business Regulations