For the first time in three years, Central Lincoln Peoples Utility District customers are going to see an increase in their electric bills starting in July.

The CLPUD’s five-member board in May approved a 3 percent rate increase for its residential customers – resulting in an average increase of $1.17 per month.

Electricity will cost the utility’s 34,569 residential accounts 7.85 cents per kilowatt hour, an increase of 0.11 cents from the current rate. The average Central Lincoln residential customer uses 1,061 kilowatt hours a month – or $83.28 a month starting in July.

Residential customers also pay a “service availability charge” that helps pay for infrastructure such as lines, transformers, utility poles, and substations. That charge will increase by $2 to $26 a month beginning in July.

“We were able to keep electricity rates the same for three years, including through the pandemic, but unfortunately supply chain issues and the soaring cost of supplies left Central Lincoln’s Board of Directors little choice … “ the utility said in a statement.

Central Lincoln is a public utility district that runs through four coastal counties from Lincoln Beach in the north to North Bend in the south. It has 34,569 residential, 5,352 commercial and 196 industrial meters and buys its electricity from the Bonneville Power Administration.

The board is scheduled to approve rate increases for commercial and industrial customers later this month. Under the proposal, rates for small commercial customers will rise to 8.05 cents per kilowatt hour from 7.8 cents – an increase of 3.2 percent.