PEC to lower delivery charge on power bills

The delivery charge decrease could be the just the first decrease of rates for PEC members.

"We're anticipating that toward the end of [2014] our board will have some opportunity to look at the fuel costs," Hewa said, referring to the wholesale power PEC purchases from the Lower Colorado River Authority.

PEC passes along wholesale power costs to customers. Hewa said PEC and LCRA have been closely monitoring their business

performances to find savings.

As a member of the board of directors, Emily Pataki represents members in District 2, which includes Leander and part of Cedar Park. Pataki said Hewa has helped reorganize PEC by streamlining internal practices and paying down the cooperative's debts.

"The amount of energy that [residents] are purchasing is up every year because more people are moving into the area," Pataki said. "We're more cash-rich than we have been."

PEC board members are discussing other ways of trimming power costs, she said.

"They've found a lot of the low-hanging fruit, and that's great," Pataki said. "Now we've got to be more strategic about improvements."

PEC announced Oct. 16 it had hired a consultant to develop a resource plan.

On Oct. 20, PEC said it will distribute about $13 million in capital credits among current and former PEC members. The credits represent PEC members' financial investments in the cooperative. PEC said its fiscal year 2013–14 revenue exceeded expenses and allowed PEC to return the funds. By December current members will receive credits on their bills and former members will receive checks, according to PEC.

"Our work is not finished," Hewa said. "This reduction in our delivery charge was a first step."