Electric Rates
Rate tariffs for the City of Independence Power & Light Department are established by City ordinance. The stable electric utility rates found in Independence are lower than the national average. Affordable electric service adds to the quality of life for residential customers and is attractive to businesses considering locating in Independence.
The information available here attempts to be materially the same, but should there be any discrepancies, in all cases the official tariffs on file will hold over these documents.
All residential electric bills are made up of two main charges:
- Customer Charge: Flat fee of $17 per month for residential and $22 per month for commercial properties.
- Energy Charges: Variable fee based on usage per kilowatt hour (kWh). These rates are slightly higher during the summer season (June to October) than in the winter season (November to May).
These customers fall into two main groups:
- Residential (MR1): single-family dwelling units and individually metered apartments
-
Residential Space Heating (MR5): single family dwelling units or apartments that have qualifying permanently installed electric space heating
2026 Rate Tables
Other fees include:
- Power Cost Adjustment: Adjustments added to or subtracted from your bill to cover the costs of buying power from other power plants and providers. (learn more)
- Regulatory and Environmental Rider: Flat fee to help cover the costs of regulatory (i.e. state law) and environmental compliance. (learn more)
- PILOT / Franchise Fee: Percentage based fee equal to the amount of City taxes and fees charged on privately owned utilities.
- Sales Taxes: Taxes charged as a percentage of your bill, like retail sales taxes you’d pay at a store or for online purchases.
Other Rate Structures
Other types of electric customers commercial and industrial power users and facilities requiring additional back-up power have more complex rate structures. Those can be found at the links below.
- Small General Service (MG1): customers for whom no specific schedule is provided (annual peak demand less than 25kw)
- Large General Service (MG2): customers for whom no specific schedule is provided (annual peak demand of 25kw or greater)
- Total Electric General Service (MG3)
- Large Power (MG4)
- Special Contract Interruptible Service (MG5)
Community Solar and Net Metering
Customers participating in the optional Community Solar Program will pay a fixed Additional Fee of $2.37 per monthly billing cycle for each one-kW of participation.
Properties with installed sun, wind or biomass generation (i.e. solar panels) may be eligible for Net Metering. Participating customers will receive a credit on their bill based on the amount of generated energy that is put back onto the electric grid each month.
To participate in or find out more about either of these programs, contact customer service.
Did You Know?
One kilowatt hour (kWh) is the amount of energy required to run a 1,000-watt (1kW) appliance for one hour (h). That equates to running a:
- 50-watt lightbulb for 20 hours
- 200-watt television for five hours
- 2,000-watt oven for 30 minutes