Mountain Parks Electric customers will not see a rate increase on their bills in 2020, the electric cooperative’s board decided on Friday.
Despite the rising costs of labor, benefits and system investments, the Mountain Parks Electric board approved a 2020 operating budget that does not require a rate increase.
“Keeping electricity affordable is one of Mountain Parks Electric’s primary objectives,” said General Manager Mark Johnston.
Some of the ways the cooperative has managed to keep costs down include investing in renewable energy sources, such as the solar projects being built near Walden and Fraser, and reducing operating costs where possible.
Electric sales in 2019 also increased, according to Mountain Parks Electric, which allowed the board to balance the budget without a rate increase.
The cooperative also shared that it delivered service with a 99.9% reliability rate last year, which amounts to only 128 minutes per consumer of outage time.