Upcoming Rate Adjustment Projected for First Quarter of 2024
This past year has brought many challenges for our industry including abnormal inflation rates, supply chain issues, higher fuel and energy prices, among other hardships. Not only are we facing these issues as an industry, but High West Energy is also facing a rate increase from our power supplier, Tri-State Generation and Transmission, that will go into effect within the first quarter of 2024.
High West Energy has not increased its retail rates since May 2016; however, to offset costs, we are forced to increase our rates in 2024 due to our power supplier’s rate increase and the continued rising costs of industry needs. Unfortunately, we are not able to avoid a rate increase to our members, but we are actively minimizing costs within the cooperative when and where we can. Our mission is to serve our members by providing safe, reliable, and competitively priced energy and services, and we will continue to do that during this trying time.
During the past two years, we have focused heavily on cutting unnecessary costs for the cooperative and evaluating our cost of operations. While making decisions, we always consider how we are spending our members’ money and if the cost will be beneficial to our membership. There are many cost cost-saving measures we have taken to effectively utilize revenue including purchasing more affordable vehicles, moving to a paperless environment within the office as well as when conducting business, offering additional payment methods, and utilizing one software (NISC) instead of purchasing multiple software packages. In addition, we are continually looking for cost savings with materials, capital items, and negotiating cost increases with suppliers and agencies to minimize the impact on the cooperative. Last year, we also moved to four 10-hour workdays, combined High West Wiring and High West Digital Solutions under High West Energy, moved to an online annual meeting, and started designing Sparks in-house rather than outsourcing this publication.
While there are more ways that we have effectively utilized our members’ money, we do hope you understand how the rising costs of everyday amenities including electricity have deeply impacted our industry, as well as High West Energy’s operations. We are hopeful that early communication about the rate increase will not only help you better prepare your finances but will also help you understand that we are doing everything in our power to keep this rate increase competitive and reasonable for our entire membership. In the following months, we will communicate with you about what the rate increase will be when our rate increase will go into effect, and what we can do as a cooperative to guide you during this time.
We do hope you understand the effects of this process and the work we are doing to effectively utilize the revenue received. We appreciate your membership, and we are here to serve you as your local cooperative. If you have any questions, please contact our office at 307-245-3261. We will continue to communicate with you to keep you informed of what is to come.
Recipe of the Month
Holiday Cranberry Jalapeño Dip
Ingredients:
- 12 oz. fresh, uncooked cranberries
- 1/4 cup green onion
- 1-2 fresh jalapeño peppers
- 2 tbsp cilantro
- 3/4 cup to 1 cup sugar
- 1 tbsp. lemon juice
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 16 oz. cream cheese
Instructions:
Use a hand food chopper to chop cranberries. Chop green onion, jalapeño peppers, and cilantro. In a medium-sized bowl, add cranberries, green onion, cilantro, and jalapeño. Add sugar, lemon juice, and salt on top of the cranberry mixture and stir gently until blended. Cover with plastic wrap and place in refrigerator overnight. Take cranberry mixture and stir all ingredients together. Then strain out all the liquid using a colander with small holes. Whip softened cream cheese with a hand mixer until smooth and spread over the bottom of a pie plate or 9x9 dish. Pour cranberry mixture atop cream cheese. Enjoy!
UPCOMING EVENTS:
December 25 - Office closed for Christmas Day
January 1- Office closed for New Year's Day
See the full Sparks newsletter below!