HEC bills go up amid rising natural gas costs

HARRISONBURG, Va. (WHSV) - If you get your electricity through the Harrisonburg Electric Commission (HEC), you may notice a change on your bill.

General Manager Brian O’Dell said the rise in natural gas prices has caused the cost of generating power to go up, and now electric bills are too.

O’Dell said the cost of natural gas has doubled over the last six months.

HEC has a fuel factor that is passed on to customers in their bills, which is based on how the commission is charged by Dominion Energy. The fuel factor is a per-kilowatt-hour charge.

At the end of October, HEC increased the fuel factor price by a penny to help deal with those costs.

“That one-cent increase will amount to about a $10 per month increase on our customers’ bills if they use about 1,000 kilowatt-hours per month,” O’Dell said.

O’Dell said it is unclear what the next six months will look like in terms of natural gas prices, but he said HEC will not make any adjustments to their prices until April 2022.

If you need assistance paying your bill you can find resources here.

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