24% Increase in Electricity Rate Filed By Rhode Island Energy, a Subsidiary of PA-Based PPL
GoLocalProv Business Team
24% Increase in Electricity Rate Filed By Rhode Island Energy, a Subsidiary of PA-Based PPL
This year the company is filing for an additional 24% increase.
Rhode Island has one of the highest electricity rates in America. According to data from U.S. Energy Information Agency, Rhode Island has the 7th highest in America.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTREI claims, “These prices are only applicable for those customers who utilize the company’s default rate, also known as Last Resort Service. These prices do not apply to those customers now on a community aggregation plan or choosing to use an alternate supplier, which accounts for approximately 30% of Rhode Island Energy distribution customers.”
“As anticipated, this upcoming winter’s supply prices are on par with what we experienced last season,” said Dave Bonenberger, president of Rhode Island Energy. “We all saw in our own homes and businesses how these commodity prices can impact a bill, so it’s more important than ever that customers become familiar with ways they can reduce their energy use and know about the resources available to them to help manage energy costs in the coming months.”
Costs in Focus
The company claims the “electricity supply prices are determined by suppliers of electric generating facilities, which RIE does not own. These costs are then passed on to customers without markup or profit. The higher-than-usual winter supply prices that customers experienced last year and will see this upcoming winter are due to several ongoing market conditions that are impacting most sectors of the economy, including higher natural gas price and other global economic events. Considering that such a significant amount of electricity generation is driven by natural gas on the wholesale energy market, when the price of natural gas goes up, it has a significant impact on the price of electricity.”
As filed, the winter price for a residential customer using the default rate from October 2023 through March 2024 would be 17.741¢/kWh, up from the current price of 10.341¢/kWh. This price is expected to come back down in April. Customers can also expect to see a decrease in the customer charge from $12 to $6 per month on their bills effective October 1. The resulting impact of these changes on a typical residential customer using 500 kWh per month is an increase of $32.29 per month, or 24%. Last winter the supply price for residential customers was 17.785¢/kWh, who experienced a monthly bill increase of roughly $52 per month, or 46%.
“Knowing these higher prices were coming, we’re grateful that Rhode Island’s elected officials had the foresight to pass legislation this year that will suspend the gross earnings tax on our customers’ bills from December through March,” Bonenberger added. “That will help decrease bills a bit, and we’ll continue to work with state leaders on other ways to help the most vulnerable.”