SECO Energy Announces Increase in Lighting Rates
SECO Energy, a trusted, local, not-for-profit electric cooperative, is deeply grateful for the opportunity to serve over 240,000 homes and businesses in seven Central Florida counties. We are honored that our electric service touches the lives of over 500,000 consumers every day. SECO Energy has been a member of your local community for over 85 years and is one of the fastest growing electric cooperatives in the nation.
Today, SECO Energy supplies reliable electric and lighting services to more than 62,000 families and commercial accounts within The Villages community. We invest millions each year in building and maintaining our state-of-the-art electric grid, so we stand ready to meet the increasing demand for safe and economical electric power to serve your future neighbors.
SECO Energy also takes a proactive approach to maintaining thousands of streetlights that illuminate The Villages at night. In the interest of public safety and well-being, our crews patrol The Villages boundaries, investigating lighting outages and malfunctions. Our track record proves that most lighting issues are repaired within 24 hours after the lighting malfunction is reported to the utility – a response time that is almost unheard of among electric utilities. Nationally, other utilities target a repair time for lighting outages to be less than 30 days. SECO also has an interactive online tool called LightFinder, which allows members to report lighting outages or malfunctions quickly, thereby ensuring a faster response time and improved service.
As a member of a cooperatively structured utility, individuals and businesses share in the benefits and costs of SECO Energy through their energy purchases and additional energy services. Unfortunately, material costs and supply chain shortages, particularly in LED lighting fixtures and poles, have necessitated the need for the cooperative to increase the monthly rate for lighting service that went into effect on May 1. These increases are a direct result of the industry’s shift towards LED technology, which is more efficient and longer lasting, but also more expensive. SECO will also enact a more substantial increase in pole rental costs for lighting that will go into effect in October of this year.
SECO Energy’s Vice President of Growth, Smart Grid, and Operational Technology, Ben Dawson, wholeheartedly supports the Rate Tariff changes that impact lighting. Dawson reassures, “The SECO Energy team is unwavering in our commitment to maintaining competitive rates, and exceptional service to our members. The rate for lighting service had remained steady for over a decade. The industry is shifting toward more efficient and longer lasting LED lighting, and SECO is looking forward to embracing this newer lighting type, all while ensuring the continued delivery of reliable and affordable energy service to all members.”
Dawson continued, “Maintaining reliable lighting service along streets and busy roadways also involves a public safety component. SECO wants its members to enjoy the benefit of well-lit streets, walking paths, and neighborhoods that most who live in The Villages have come to expect.”
SECO Energy is a not-for-profit entity. Energy rates, lighting service costs, and additional services are structured not to turn a profit but to reflect the costs of providing power and other related services. We continually review rates through cost-of-service studies which are comprehensive evaluations of the costs associated with providing service to different customer groups, to ensure fairness and equity among ratepayers and that the cost of additional services is not subsidized by the entire membership base. The full rate tariff is available online at SECOEnergy.com.
