By John Howell Sr.

Residential customers of Tallahatchie Valley Electric Power Association (TVEPA) could see a drop in monthly power bills starting January 1 following a decrease in the Tennessee Valley Authority’s (TVA) fuel adjustment cost.

Batesville Mayor Jerry Autrey, a member of the Association of Tennessee Valley Governments, said that the decrease would average between $4 and $8.

TVEPA finance director Jim Vinson said that the fuel adjustment cost decrease amounts to about seven percent. TVEPA’s average residential user who consumes about 1,300 kilowatt hours would see a monthly reduction of $6.75, he said.

“We are glad for the relief this decrease will bring to rate payers across the Valley,” said TVA chief financial officer Kim Greene.

“Recent reductions in purchased power and natural gas prices have helped reduce our actual costs and forecast for the second quarter of 2009,” Greene continued. “Unfortunately, coal prices remain significantly higher than they were a year ago, and sustained drought conditions across the Tennessee Valley have cut TVA’s hydro generation by more than 50 percent, preventing TVA’s fuel costs from dropping further.”

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is a quasi-governmental agency established in 1933 to bring electricity to seven southeastern states.

The Tallahatchie Electric Power Association (TVEPA) is rural electrical cooperative owned by its customers in its eight-county service area of north Mississippi. TVEPA buys its electricity from TVA to distribute to its customers who frequently use “TVEPA” and “TVA” interchangeably but erroneously.