Many homes have only had a few months to get accustomed to Colorado Springs Utilities’ new Energy Wise rates. Beginning Monday, they will have to adapt to a temporary increase in the rates.

From the beginning of June until Sept. 30, rates during the peak hours for power use in Colorado Springs will be nearly doubled. The peak hours last from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. on weekday nights.

The electricity rates will be increased from around 15 cents per kilowatt hour during the evening peaks to 29 cents per kilowatt hour for the summer months. The electricity rates for all other times of day will not be affected.

Utilities spokesperson Alex Trefry said the seasonal change was meant to address the two big drivers of cost for the municipal utility: increased use by customers and increased cost to acquire power.

“It’s not necessarily that electric demand is doubling, but the cost to us to generate or purchase that power is increased,” Trefry said.

Utilities have been transitioning customers to the new Energy Wise rate system this year, which charges customers different amounts for their electricity usage depending on the time of day. The system was intended to encourage customers to save money on their bills by reducing the power used during the peak weekday nights.

Trefry said that in Utilities’ rate studies, the summer months under Energy Wise may be about 10% higher than in previous years. Bills for the rest of the year would be slightly lower, and since the summer only covered four months, it should be cost-neutral for Utilities customers.

Trefry suggested that customers ‘pre-cool’ their homes with air conditioning before 5 p.m. to save money this summer. The Colorado Springs Utilities website includes other tools to track and reduce the power used by their appliances.