FPB Electric Usage Information

This has been an incredibly cold winter. This past January was one of the coldest on record. Customers may be seeing an increase in their electric bills for this harsh month.

Electric bills are based on usage. The more energy a customer uses, the higher their bill. Customers can get a good snap shot of how the weather has impacted usage this winter by looking at their current electric bills and the amount of kWh they have used. Customers can compare that usage in kWh to their previous bills kWh at other months of the year.  

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FPB, and our provider Kentucky Utilities (KU), experienced some of the largest winter load peaks ever this winter. In fact, FPB’s January bill from KU for the month’s energy usage was $4.7 million. That is the largest bill ever received from KU by FPB.

When comparing the dollar amount on current customer bills to last winters, keep in mind FPB had our annual rate increase back on July 1 (residential 6.4%), so there has been a rate increase since last winter. Taking that into account, on December 30th the Kentucky Department of Energy released information that FPB customers have the lowest residential rates in the state and are lower than 99% of the nation*.

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*Data from Kentucky Energy Database, EEC-DEDI, 2013-Tweet December 30, 2013 from @KYDEDI #Frankfort residential #electricity prices are the lowest in #Kentucky. 99% of American households pay more.

FPB has been fortunate that we have seen minimal impacts on our electric infrastructure, with very limited problems during the multiple ice storms our region experienced. That is due in part to constant maintenance of our infrastructure, vegetation management programs and preparedness for harsh conditions and its potential impact on our service.

Below is statistical data about FPB, our load demand and the weather of January 2014:

• FPB has 17,300 Residential meters  and 4,151 Commercial/industrial/municipal/miscellaneous meters (notice these are meters and not numbers of people served)
• The peak demand for January 2014 was 142.9MW. That peak was recorded on January 7th (High Temp: 14.2 Low Temp: -4.5**).
• That is nearly a 17% increase over the peak Demand for December 2013 (121.0MW on 12/12/13; High Temp: 29.3 Low Temp: 10.2) and a 14% increase over the peak day in January of 2013 (124.6MW on 1/23/13; High Temp: 34.8 Low Temp: 9.9).
• If you compare the January 7 peak to a more “mild” winter day, for instance December 9th of 2013 (High: 33.8 Low: 25.9), the system peak demand only reached 106.9MW. That’s about 33% less than the peak demand on the 7th of this year.
• According to KYMESONET, the Commonwealth's official source for weather and climate data, January 2014 had an average temperature of 25.9 degrees. The average temperature for January of 2013 was 36.1.
• The same KYMESONET data listed the average high for January 2014 at 37.1 and average low of 14.8 compared to 44.2 and 28 in January of 2013.
• Extreme low temperatures in January 2014 far exceeded those of January 2013. KYMESONET reported the following low temperatures in January 2014:
• Nine days with the high temperature under freezing. 26 days with the low under freezing. Seventeen days with a low temperature under 15 degrees and eight days with a low at zero (0) or lower.
• A report from January 2013 shows only three days with a low under 15 degrees and no days reported at zero or colder.

**Temperature data from KY Mesonet, Franklin County.

One particular increase customers will likely see on their bill is in the fuel adjustment cost or power cost adjustment.

Understanding the Power Cost Adjustment (PCA)

What is the Power Cost Adjustment (PCA)?

It is an industry standard system, accepted by all regulatory bodies (Federal Energy Regulatory Commission [FERC] and The Public Service Commission [PSC]), to help recover the cost of fuel it takes to generate electricity.

• The Power Cost Adjustment (PCA) that appears on your bill represents the cost of the fuel for the KU power plants that generate your electricity. For the most part, it is the cost of coal, but it also can include the cost of natural gas and/or purchased power. Purchased power and gas-fueled power both tend to be significantly more expensive than coal-fueled power.

All money collected for the PCA is passed on to our wholesale power supplier KU.

• The PCA is a pass-through expense. The Plant Board collects the PCA from its customers and then passes all of that money on to its wholesale power supplier, Kentucky Utilities (KU). FPB does not keep any of the PCA that it collects. FPB is a not-for-profit utility.

The PCA is regulated and monitored by a government agency.

• Federal government regulators (FERC) allow the PCA charged by KU and their oversight ensures that only proper expenses are included. Proper expenses include the cost of power plant fuel or purchased power.

Why does the PCA vary so much from one month to the next?

The cost of power plant fuel and purchased power can fluctuate significantly from one month to the next for several reasons:

• The market cost of coal, natural gas and purchased power may rise or fall.
• If KU has a coal-fired generating unit out of service for maintenance, then that power must be generated by an alternative source or purchased on the power market, both of which tend to be much more expensive.
• Even if all coal-fired generating units are operational, KU occasionally must operate natural gas-fueled units or purchase power from the market because power usage is so high. This tends to occur on days when it is very hot or very cold because homes and businesses are using more electricity for cooling and heating.

Understanding Your FPB, PCA and Energy Usage Summary

FPB is a not-for-profit utility, when our costs go up for something significant and uncontrollable like energy costs, unfortunately, the additional costs must be reflected in our bills to customers.

Fuel costs are the largest expense for electric utilities, FPB included, and fuel prices can vary greatly due to extreme temperatures. It creates a simple issue of supply and demand.  Recognizing this, the PSC, FERC and all other regulatory agencies, have allowed PCA, also called fuel adjustment charges, since the oil embargo of the 1970s. Under utility rate regulation, fuel costs are passed along to electric customers at cost.

For information on PCA click here.

Tornado Drill

“ This will be a test, not an actual emergency.”

On Tuesday, March 4th at 10:07 a.m., the National Weather Service will conduct a test of the Emergency Alert System.

A “Tornado Warning” message will be sent to all participating broadcast television stations and cable television systems. This will be a test, not an actual emergency. If threatening weather should exist anywhere in the state on March 4th, the drill will be rescheduled for March 5th or whenever conditions are deemed appropriate.

FPB Investigating Recent Internet Outages

“The outages are still under investigation, but it appears that they are the result of a Denial-of-Service (DoS) attack.”

Frankfort Plant Board experienced two Internet outages this week on the 25th and 26th for approximately 1 hour each night. The interruptions occurred on:

Tuesday, February 25th 2014 – 9:40p to 10:45p
Wednesday, February 26 2014 – 8:10p to 9:00p

The outages are still under investigation, but it appears that they are the result of a Denial-of-Service (DoS) attack. DoS attacks are an attempt to make a machine or network resource unavailable to its intended users. DoS attacks are increasing in frequency and severity, impacting providers and hosts world-wide. For more information on DoS attacks, read here:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denial-of-service_attack

FPB is working with upstream providers in an attempt to lessen the effects of future attacks; however, these types of attacks can be difficult to stop and there may be further attacks.

We apologize for any inconvenience experienced by our customers and will provide more information when it becomes available.

Scheduled Water Outage

“If you have any questions concerning the Boil Water Advisory, please call 352-4372 or 352-4433.”

On Monday 02/24/14 there will be an interruption of water service from 9:00 A.M. until 12:00 P.M. in the following areas:

• Swigert Ave from Holmes St to Grand Ave
• 902 to 930 Holmes St
•  First Ave from Alexander St to Swigert Ave
• Claxton Ave
• Grand Ave from Swigert Ave to 1012 Grand Ave

Immediately following there will be a Boil Water Advisory.

A vigorous boil for at least two minutes is recommended. This Boil Water Advisory is a precautionary measure due to a loss of pressure in the water main caused by Plant Board crews renewing a service line.

This Advisory will remain in effect until lab analysis of water samples taken confirms that the potable water supply in the affected area is safe to drink. You will receive a notice when the advisory is lifted.

If you have any questions concerning the Boil Water Advisory, please call 352-4372 or 352-4433.

DTA factory reset

FPB DTA

Click here to learn more about FPB set tops.

After a power outage, customers may need to reset their DTAs back to the factory default for the DTA to work properly .  Here's a step by step guide to resetting your FPB DTA.

1.  Push MENU on the remote.
2.  Arrow down until option 3 "setting" is highlighted - DO NOT PRESS OK.
3.  Enter 6980 on the remote.
4.  Arrow down to Option 3 "Reset Factory Defaults".
5.  Press "OK" on the remote.
6.  Press "OK" at the "Reset Type All" screen.
7. It will then ask "This will reset STB to default values, Continue?"
8.  Press the left arrow key to highlight "Yes".
9.  Press "OK" on the remote with "Yes" highlighted.
10.  "Please Wait" will appear on the creen and the DTA will start to reboot.  This scanning procedure may take up to 15 minutes.
11.  After scan reaches 100%, check for all channels.

If after following these steps, you are still experiencing issues with your FPB DTA or Cable Service, please call 502-352-4372 and an FPB technician will be assigned to further assess your service issue.  

This factory reset information has been added to the Cable TV service page (from the drop down Service menu) for easy access.  Bookmark the reset page here.

SCAM ALERT

“Individuals coming to your home claiming to be FPB employees should have proper identification”

SCAM ALERT: An FPB customer was recently the victim of a scam and we want to make everyone aware of this incident. 

The customer received a call from someone claiming to be an FPB employee and stating someone would be coming to their home to replace their electric meter. The caller stated their electric meter was using more electricity than it was supposed to and needed to be replaced. The customer was instructed to buy a Green Dot MoneyPak with $500 loaded onto it for the repair.

FPB never does business this way. Should you ever receive a call from someone claiming to be an FPB employee, and you have any doubt as to their validity, please hang up and call our office to confirm. Individuals coming to your home claiming to be FPB employees should have proper identification. Anyone who cannot identify them-self to your satisfaction should be turned away. You should also report any such calls or visits to local law enforcement.

Beware Telephone Tech Support Scams

“Do not trust unsolicited calls. Do not provide any personal information.”

— Microsoft.com

Because some customers have reported telephone scam incidents, we are posting the following message and support from Microsoft's website:

Cybercriminals don't just send fraudulent email messages and set up fake websites. They might also call you on the telephone and claim to be from Microsoft. They might offer to help solve your computer problems or sell you a software license. Once they have access to your computer, there's no limit to the damage they can do.  

Neither Microsoft nor our partners make unsolicited phone calls (also known as cold calls) to charge you for computer security or software fixes.

How to protect yourself from telephone tech support scams

If someone claiming to be from Microsoft tech support calls you:

Do not purchase any software or services.

Ask if there is a fee or subscription associated with the “service.” If there is, hang up.

Never give control of your computer to a third party unless you can confirm that it is a legitimate representative of a computer support team with whom you are already a customer.

Take the caller’s information down and immediately report it to your local authorities.

Never provide your credit card or financial information to someone claiming to be from Microsoft tech support.

What to do if you already gave information to a tech support person

If you think that you might have downloaded malware from a phone tech support scam website or allowed a cybercriminal to access your computer, take these steps:

• Change your computer's password, change the password on your main email account, and change the password for any financial accounts, especially your bank and credit card.

• Scan your computer with the Microsoft Safety Scanner to find out if you have malware installed on your computer.

• Install Microsoft Security Essentials. (Microsoft Security Essentials is a free program. If someone calls you to install this product and then charge you for it, this is also a scam.)

  Note: In Windows 8, Windows Defender replaces Microsoft Security Essentials. Windows Defender runs in the background and notifies you when you need to take specific action. However, you can use it anytime to scan for malware if your computer isn't working properly or you clicked a suspicious link online or in an email message.

  Please visit Microsoft's page for more information. 

Customers Be Aware of Payment Scams

While FPB is not aware of any such scams currently operating in this area, it’s always good to generally beware and protect your information. American Public Power Association provided the following material on payment scams which we thought would be helpful to share with our customers.

The Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) is warning customers of a new, nationwide utility bill scam. Numerous customers have received telephone calls from individuals attempting to skim financial information, the utility said.

The fraudsters are claiming to work for LIPA, demanding payment through a pre-paid card on past-due balances. The callers threaten customers that their service will be shut off immediately if they do not make payment through these pre-paid cards, the utility said.

In some cases, the caller also tells customers that they may have a faulty meter that is dangerous and in need of replacing for a substantial fee, the utility said. However, electric meters are the property of LIPA and are not customer-owned equipment.

Never allow anyone into your home to check electrical wiring, natural gas pipes or appliances unless you have scheduled an appointment or have reported a utility problem. Also, ask utility employees for proper identification.

“LIPA does contact customers with past-due balances by phone to offer payment options, but never demands direct payment over the telephone,” the utility said. “LIPA currently does not accept credit or debit card payments.”

Public Power Daily reported similar scams in Los Angeles, Calif., earlier this year. Impostors were posing as utility personnel and were contacting residential customers of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power by telephone and threatening immediate termination of service.

The Braintree Electric Light Department (BELD) in Massachusetts also posted a warning on its Facebook fan page, alerting its customers to similar scams. 

“The latest scam looks to mimic a message sent from BELD requesting your username and password regarding maintenance to your webmail account,” the utility said. “The message goes on to say that your account will be deleted after seven days. You can simply delete this message as BELD does not solicit your username and password through email.” 

Glasgow Electric Plant Board in Kentucky also reported fraudulent activity. 

“We had a report from a customer that another phone scam is going around asking for access to your computer,” the utility posted on its Facebook page. “Remember, if you get a call from anybody claiming that they need remote access to your computer in order to fix a virus or anything, do not do it!”

The Better Business Bureau advises the following in order to avoid falling victim to email and phone scams:

Never provide your social security number, credit card number or banking information to anyone requesting it over the phone or at your home unless you initiated the contact and feel confident with whom you are speaking. 

If you receive a call claiming to be your utility company and feel pressured for immediate payment or personal information, hang up the phone and call the customer service number on your utility bill.

Never allow anyone into your home to check electrical wiring, natural gas pipes or appliances unless you have scheduled an appointment or have reported a utility problem. Also, ask utility employees for proper identification.

Always think safety first. Do not give in to high-pressure tactics over the phone for information or in person to get into your home. 

Beware of Caller ID Spoofing

If you believe you have experienced caller ID spoofing, please let the FCC know about ID spoofers by calling

1-888-CALL-FCC
or by filing a complaint at
www.fcc.gov/complaints.

A Caller ID service is susceptible to fraud. Using a practice known as “caller ID spoofing,” callers can deliberately falsify the telephone number and/or name relayed as the Caller ID information to disguise the identity of the calling party. For example, identity thieves who want to collect sensitive information such as your bank account or other financial account numbers, your social security number, your date of birth or your mother’s maiden name, sometimes use caller ID spoofing to make it appear as though they are calling from your bank, credit card company, or even a government agency.

The Truth in Caller ID Act of 2009, which was signed into law Dec. 22, 2010, prohibits caller ID spoofing for the purposes of defrauding or otherwise causing harm. In June 2010, the Federal Communications Commission adopted rules implementing the Truth in Caller ID Act.

FCC Rules

Prohibit any person or entity from transmitting misleading or inaccurate caller ID information with the intent to defraud, cause harm, or wrongfully obtain anything of value.

Subject violators to a penalty of up to $10,000 for each violation of the rules.

Exempt authorized activities by law enforcement agencies and situations where courts have authorized caller ID manipulation to occur.

To help prevent from falling victim to caller ID spoofing, please keep these points in mind:

Don’t give out personal information in response to an incoming call. Identity thieves are clever – they often pose as representatives of banks, credit card companies, creditors, or government agencies to get people to reveal their account numbers, Social Security numbers, mother’s maiden names, passwords and other identifying information.

If you get an inquiry from a company or government agency seeking personal information, don’t provide it. Instead, hang up and call the phone number on your account statement, in the phone book, or on the company’s or government agency’s website to find out if the entity that supposedly called you actually needs the requested information from you.