Where does the money go?

Just like any business, utilities must cover several types of costs as part of doing business, from day-to-day delivery to investments for the future. We file rate cases to recover the extra money we spend when those costs rise.

So, if approved, where will the money gained through our requested rate increase go? Of the total increase requested, 77% of the cost is for the pipes, wires and people that deliver your energy. The rest of the money will help us meet rising costs for other aspects of our business, like accounting, research, pensions and benefits.

Infrastructure and customer service

57% of the requested rate increase will be spent on the materials and manpower that go into the energy delivery infrastructure. That means running wire, digging ditches, climbing poles, driving trucks, answering your calls and more - everything we do to maintain the equipment that keeps your energy flowing, and improvements that make it flow more reliably. Click here to learn about some of our 2009 reliability projects.

Financing costs

20% of money gained through the requested rate increase will be used to recover the costs of borrowing money - an essential aspect of our business, because, unlike most businesses, we get paid after you use our products and services, not before.

Business services

15% of the requested increase will help us pay for the tools and services we use to run our business efficiently - information technology, human resources, accounting, purchasing and more.

Pensions and benefits

4% of the requested increase will go toward the rising costs of providing our employees with benefits and pensions.

Other costs of operation