IEC announces 3.5% rate increase

For residential members, the kWh rate increases from 9.67 cents to 10 cents, and there will be a $5 increase in the fixed base charge.
 

As a not-for-profit cooperative, Indian Electric provides members critical infrastructure at the cost of service. It’s the best part about our business model, existing to serve.

Let’s be clear – it’s never about making money; it’s about doing everything we can to ensure our current members have reliable service and our members in the next generation have the assets to continue delivering power at the same high standard.

We never like to raise rates, because we understand how much the cost of living burdens our members in rural Oklahoma. Unfortunately, the current economic situation requires us to.

IEC does not generate its own electric but is a part of a group of cooperatives using collective buying power, resulting in the lowest inflation to the consumer-member. Regardless, our suppliers at the generation and transmission level tell us the cost of purchased power will continue to rise for all the same reasons as our local costs rise.

Approximately 60 percent of IEC’s annual costs are for purchased power supply.

Taking all this into consideration, the IEC Board of Directors approved a rate increase to our distribution members starting April 1, 2026. Residential members will see a 3.5 percent increase in their bills – which is parallel to what our provider is charging us, no markup. The kWh rate increases from 9.67 cents to 10 cents, and there will be a $5 increase in the base charge from $35 to $40. It is worth noting, however, IEC’s base charge remains $18 below the third-party, cost-of-service study.

Demand charges also are increasing and will impact our commercial accounts. You can find updated rates for all classes at iecok.com/rates or click the chart at the top of this story. 

We are fortunate to be in a region of the U.S. where the cost of electricity is below the national average, and IEC’s rates are among the lowest in the state. As mentioned in the 2025 District Meetings, the 2025 Annual Meeting address and at the three community forums "Coffee with the Co-op" in January and February 2026, the rate change is one we saw coming because of industry trends.

Operating an electric cooperative is a capital-intensive business, and costs have increased significantly in recent years due to inflation, higher borrowing costs, and continued system growth. Rising prices for materials, equipment, and services, combined with higher interest rates, have increased the cost of building, maintaining and financing the electric system.

Healthy growth of our membership helps us pay for the costs of operations and maintenance. In the past year, we invested $4 million in right-of-way clearing and replaced more than 2,000 poles that inspectors said were close to their lifespan. These moves are proactive and directly impact reliability and reducing outages.

In unexpected costs in 2025, the cooperative was not reimbursed by FEMA for the more than $2 million in costs incurred for loss of infrastructure during tornadoes and spring wildfires that destroyed more than 80 homes of IEC members. We are diligent in our financial and asset planning, but natural disasters and relying on the state and federal government is a challenge for a cooperative that operates without profit and tries to keep debt low and rates as low as possible.

As always, reliability and affordability drive our decision-making process. The board members, management and employees of the cooperative also are members, and none like to think about rate increases. But we have a responsibility to manage the financial health of the cooperative, which necessitates a rate increase.

We understand an average bill increase of any amount can be a heavy burden for some. Because of this, we have several ways to help you manage and monitor your usage through prepay billing, SmartHub's energy monitoring features and our Energy Saver Program. 

There have been three public community meetings so far in 2026 and the cooperative will hold more if necessary. Our goal is for members to understand how energy is produced, purchased and a reliable system maintained as we continue to serve you.

In addition to the announcement in our monthly newsletter that is delivered to members' homes, each IEC member is being notified of the rate change with a March letter to their service address. IEC also posted information to IECOK.com in February, and on our social media channels and SmartHub.