BERLIN, Conn. (November 17, 2014) – Connecticut’s Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) has approved Connecticut Light & Power’s new Standard Service generation rate for the electricity it buys on behalf of its customers. The average Standard Service rate will increase to 12.45 cents/kilowatt hour, from the current 9.96 cents.
As a regulated delivery company, CL&P must purchase electricity from suppliers for its customers who elect the Standard Service generation option. Those costs are passed directly to customers with no profit to the company. By law, the Standard Service price for residential and small commercial customers changes twice a year, on January 1st and July 1st. The Standard Service rate pertains only to the generation portion of the monthly electric bill. This increase is separate from CL&P’s rate case filing, which focuses solely on the delivery portion of the customer bill.
The current spike in the cost of electricity is not only affecting Connecticut, but all of New England, since more than half of the region’s electricity is now produced using natural gas. Although natural gas remains an abundant and inexpensive fuel, regional pipeline limitations and the growing dependency on gas to produce electricity are pushing prices higher. While these constraints will continue to affect electricity customers in the near-term, Northeast Utilities, parent company of CL&P, is committed to pursuing strategic projects to help solve these challenges. To that end, NU and Spectra Energy recently proposed the Access Northeast project to expand the region’s natural gas capacity using existing pipeline routes, with an anticipated in-service date of November 2018. In addition, NU’s proposed Northern Pass Project will bring clean and low-cost energy from Hydro-Quebec’s world-class hydroelectric plants to New Hampshire and New England.
To help customers manage costs this winter due to the electricity price increase, the company is promoting energy efficiency options to help control energy use and costs. A variety of energy efficiency tips, bill payment options and information on assistance programs can be found at cl-p.com, along with a listing of the new rates which go into effect on January 1, 2015.
Customers can compare current offers on www.energizect.com, or by calling 1-877-WISE-USE. The "EnergizeCT" website also includes the helpful customer guide "How to Assess Suppliers."