Midwest Electric customers to see 9.5 percent increase in power starting in January

BY BECKY UEHLING

GRANT TRIBUNE 

Midwest Electric Cooperative Corporation customers will notice a 9.5 percent increase in their electricity bill starting in January, according to Jayson Bishop, manager of Midwest Electric based in Grant. 

In Bishop’s monthly newsletter in December, he overviewed three reasons leading up to the increase. One reason is because of inflation, he said. 

Another reason, according to Bishop, is the high demand for electricity across the nation, which has lead Midwest’s power supplier, Tri-State Generation and Transmission, to increase its power cost to Midwest by 8.5 percent. And the final factor is because Tri-State has also decided to not return its profits to its customers, but instead reinvest them, with Midwest making up the difference, Bishop said. 

“No one wants to be the bearer of bad news, but that is my task in this month’s update,” he said in the newsletter. 

Bishop explained that Midwest’s cost to purchase power is usually 65-70 percent of Midwest’s total cost to provide electric service to its customers in a year, any increases in the wholesale power rate have significant impact on retail rates. However, he did commend Tri-State for not having any increases in power for several years. 

“Tri-State has been able to hold rates in check for most of the last decade,” he said. “Their rates were basically flat from 2016-2023. They did increase our rates by 6.3 percent in 2024 and Midwest took the same rate increase, but there was no rate increases for 2025.” 

Bishop said Tri-State and Midwest continue to look for ways to add generation capacity of all types, including natural gas, wind, solar and batteries. 

Those with questions can call Midwest at 308-352-4356, visit them at 104 Washington Ave. in Grant, or look on their website at https://www.midwestecc.com/.