A message from General Manager, Dale Ancell:
Over the past 18 years, South Plains Electric has raised rates less than 10%. Our last increase was in 2016 and was 5.67%. In 2007, the increase was 2.28%. We’ve spent months looking at the Cooperative’s operating reports and reviewing expert analyses of the Cooperative’s rate structure and financial performance. On February 28, 2025, the South Plains Electric Cooperative Board of Directors approved necessary rate changes to continue the financial viability of the Cooperative.
An 8.93% increase for our members will be effective May 1, 2025. This will represent a less-than-1%-per-year increase since the last increase in 2016.
Without increases in inflation and interest rates, we could have gone another two years without a rate increase.
Inflation drastically increased our material prices. Here are some examples of price increases for commonly used materials from January 2020 to May 2024:
• Crossarms: +103.37%
• Transformers: +98.5%
• Primary wire: +61.78%
• Insulators: +58.03%
Our interest rates have increased 185% since 2021, and we will continue to fund a fast-growing system while keeping rates affordable.
Even with the rate change, the rate for a residential member using 1,000 kilowatts per month will be 12.7 cents per kilowatt hour. Twelve-month rates from retail electric providers in the Lubbock area are ranging from 15.9 to 20.9 cents. In the Spur and Childress areas, the range is 14.7 to 21.1 cents.
The increase is in two parts: one is a $10 per meter increase in the facilities charge, and the other is a very small adjustment to the energy rate. Again, this is only the third rate increase our members have experienced since 2007. We are proud of the fact that we have been able to control costs while growing our Cooperative system.
The Cooperative invested nearly $253 million dollars in growing the system since the last rate increase.
Over the last two years alone, the Cooperative invested nearly $93 million dollars into the electric system. We spent almost as much in these two years as we did from 2016-2020!
Between the years of 2014 and 2024, the City of Lubbock population increased 10.38%, with the majority of the people migrating to Southwest Lubbock.
As Lubbock grows, so must South Plains Electric Cooperative. In 2014, we had 51,879 residential, commercial, industrial and agricultural meters. At the end of 2024, we had 75,399 meters.
That’s a 45% increase in meters—four times the City of Lubbock population growth. The Cooperative’s overall growth rate is 5% and ranks us amongst the highest 2% in the entire country.
Expanding communities must have reliable electricity. Without it, developers don’t invest, schools and homes aren’t built, companies don’t move in and jobs aren’t created.
Energy availability is vital for a thriving economy and healthy communities.
South Plains Electric may have been born a rural electric cooperative, but it has grown up to be a stable, reliable and affordable energy provider.
It’s difficult to drive down 82nd Street, Milwaukee Avenue, Farm Road 1585 or Woodrow Road and not see evidence of this expansion. It’s hard to believe that in 2005, Milwaukee Avenue was still a dirt road. We also have considerable growth on the east side of Lubbock with Leprino and Plant AS. But Lubbock isn’t the only part of our service area expanding.
The Childress area is also growing. We serve an apartment complex, several hotels, Walmart, a new gas station, restaurants, a strip mall, data center and golf course.
In the rural areas, oil and gas production is increasing, and the Cooperative is investing in the infrastructure to meet those needs.
In our 6,600 square miles of service area, criss-crossed by 10,318 miles of line, we still have rural areas that provide their own challenges.
For example, South Plains Electric serves an average of eight members per mile of line; whereas, investor-owned utilities serve 35 customers and municipal utilities 47 customers per mile of line. The higher density of consumers per mile of line means more people are paying the expenses.
Investor-owned utilities are owned by investors who may or may not be customers of the utility they own. Their stocks are traded on Wall Street, and those stakeholders demand a return on their investments.
Many municipal systems charge rates that generate revenue to help pay for other city services. A portion of the fee LP&L charges to deliver power is still being returned to the City of Lubbock.
South Plains Electric Cooperative is different because we operate on a not-for-profit basis and return any margins back to the members using the service.
South Plains Electric plans to continue keeping pace with the power demands of thousands of new and existing residential, commercial, industrial and agricultural members.
The Cooperative accomplishes this through expert planning, design and maintenance, and exceptional member service.
South Plains Electric has been completely locally owned and controlled since 1937 and is growing right along with our communities. And as the number of members grows, so does our commitment to serve the demand for electricity at the lowest possible cost.
No rate change is ever easy, but it is essential to keep your Cooperative financially viable. Your locally-elected board studied all alternatives and made necessary business decisions for the Cooperative’s best long-term interest—and for yours. Please plan to attend one of the member meetings in April to discuss your Cooperative’s finances with the board and staff.
Official Notice of Rate Change
Notice is hereby given that South Plains Electric Cooperative, Inc., Lubbock, Texas, intends to change rates for electric service pursuant to Texas Utilities Code Section 41,061. The Cooperative’s Board of Directors approved a rate changes that will be reflected on the May 2025 billing.
The current rates of the Cooperative have been in effect since 2017.
Based upon a test year ending December 31, 2023, it is anticipated that the proposed rate changes will increase the Cooperative’s annual revenues by 8.93% over adjusted test-year revenues. These changes will be reflected in an increase to the facilities charge of $10 per month per meter and a very small adjustment to the energy rate.
The rate changes will be applicable to all rate classes, and the percentage change to each class will vary based on kWh usage and load factor. We will have meetings to discuss the proposed changes at the following locations and times:
Monday, April 14
6 p.m.
Rolling Plains Division—Spur Office
2741 FM 836, Spur
Tuesday, April 15
6 p.m.
Rolling Plains Division—Childress Office
1900 Ave. C NW, Childress
Wednesday, April 16
6 p.m.
Lubbock Division—32nd Street Training Facility
7714 32nd St., Lubbock
If you have any questions concerning these rate changes, please call
Lubbock Division Manager Jon Henson at (806) 775-7742 or Rolling Plains Division Manager Ben Greene at (806) 775-7731.
