Many municipalities enact a “Franchise Fee” on utility companies, such as Sam Houston EC, for operating within their city limits. Franchise fees are charged to the utilities that provide services within each city’s limits.
An executed franchise agreement between a city and Sam Houston EC requires the Cooperative to pay a franchise fee based on the cost of a consumer-member’s electric energy. The franchise fee will appear as a line item on some Sam Houston EC member's bill each month. While most franchise fee agreements have been in place since the 1970s, beginning January 2025, the fee will be listed as a separate line item on Sam Houston EC bills.
If you feel that your location is not located within the city limits and this notice is in error, you may contact your city.
SHECO bills also include a base charge of $31.75. This covers expenses associated with having a meter at your location, including monthly readings, billings, repairs, meter testing, and maintenance of your electric service.
The delivery cost represents the price of delivering power to your location. It allows us to maintain the substations, poles and distribution lines that deliver electricity to you. It also covers necessary system upgrades and right-of-way maintenance.
This charge is currently .0310 per kilowatt-hour of consumption.
SHECO meters accurately record the kilowatt-hours used with a register that counts in ascending order. So, our billing department calculates your actual usage by subtracting your official reading before your last bill from your most recent reading.
The kilowatt-hour is the basic measurement used to calculate your bill. Any electronic device has a certain amount of electricity it needs to function, also known as its wattage.
For example, the average ceiling fan is 50 watts. If you use that fan for 20 hours in 1 month, your ceiling fan will have consumed 1 kilowatt-hour. You can do the math by multiplying the wattage (50) by the number of hours used (20), and then dividing the sum by 1,000.
Here’s another example: If you run a 1,500-watt space heater for 8 hours a day, every day of the month, that will use up about 360 kWh for the month. Here’s the math: You used it for a total of 240 hours that month, because 8 hours a day x 30 days = 240. So, multiply the wattage (1,500) by the number of hours used (240), and then divide that by 1,000.
