Upshur Rural
Electric Cooperative
Serving East Texans
since 1937.
***URECC Members***
The Annual Meeting of Members is scheduled for Thursday, April 3rd 2025 at 1:00pm. The deadline for Petitions is February 2, 2025 by 4:30 pm. We look forward to seeing you there!
****ATTENTION HARLETON SUBSTATION MEMBERS.****
We would like to inform you of a scheduled power outage for Saturday morning, January 18, 2025, as we perform essential maintenance on our substation. The outage will start at 5:00 AM and last about an hour.
We appreciate your understanding and patience as we work to improve our service.
🚨 ATTENTION URECC MEMBERS 🚨
A blast of Arctic air is expected to move into our service area early next week, bringing a potential mix of winter weather. We encourage all members to begin preparing their homes now to ensure safety and comfort during this cold snap.
Here are some helpful tips:
❄️ Insulate exterior pipes to prevent freezing
❄️ Seal any cracks around windows and doors to keep the warmth in
❄️ Let faucets drip slightly to help prevent pipes from freezing
❄️ Ensure your heating system is working properly and ready for the cold
❄️ Make alternate arrangements for outdoor pets to keep them safe and warm
❄️Have a backup plan in place for any medical equipment you rely on
Stay safe and warm!
Power Cost Recovery Factor- Explained
Unmute the video below to hear a complete explanation of PCRF in our Member Services Podcast.
Click below to view the video of CEO Rob Walker's explanation of PCRF
When fuel prices rise, it costs Northeast Texas Electric Cooperative and East Texas Electric Cooperative more to produce electricity and some of those costs are passed through to Upshur Rural and its members by an increase in the PCRF, or Power Cost Recovery Factor.
The Power Cost Recovery Factor for Upshur Rural Electric Cooperative is adjusted on a monthly basis. The PCRF is the rate component that is a direct reflection of the fluctuating cost of fuel required to run an electric generation plant.
Since URECC is a distribution cooperative, we purchase our wholesale power from two generation and transmission cooperatives, North Texas Electric Cooperative and East Texas Electric Cooperative.
One way to think about PCRF is to compare it to the cost of gasoline for your car. Even though your monthly car payment (the rate) hasn't gone up, the car you drive is costing more to operate now because just as fuel prices have risen, for generated electricity, so have gasoline prices at the pump (the PCRF).
Increases in fuel prices do not just affect URECC, NTEC, or ETEC - nearly every electric utility in the nation is facing this same issue. The demand for electric generation continues to increase. As we all know, with demand high and supplies lower, the price is going to rise.
To minimize the impact of this charge on our members, every attempt is made to "level" the PCRF monthly, rather than to pass on the sometime extreme monthly fluctuations from our wholesale supplier. However, significant changes in fuel charges may make it necessary to adjust the PCRF.
The main advantage of monthly changes in the PCRF is that it is more responsive to changes in fuel costs. If fuel costs go down our members are not stuck with a higher cost indefinitely. Investor-owned utilities, such as SWEPCO or TXU, can only make rate adjustments for changes in fuel costs twice annually and must gain approval from the Public Utility Commission of Texas to do so. This means their fuel cost adjustments may remain higher for their customers for a longer period of time.