Guest MINDSETTER™ Casimiro: Is the PUC Living up to its Job Title?

Guest MINDSETTER™ Casimiro: Is the PUC Living up to its Job Title?

For everyone in Rhode Island, it seems like the same song and dance every single year – National Grid wants to raise utility rates and the Public Utilities Commission says, “Go right ahead, Rhode Islanders have plenty of money!”  I know that the PUC doesn’t really say that, but they might as well, especially after reviewing their decisions every year, decisions that consistently take more and more money out of our pockets.

Everyone knows that Rhode Island is the smallest state in the union, but did you also know that we have the third highest monthly costs for utilities in the country?  Per month, Rhode Islanders pay more for heat, electricity, and water than the residents of 47 other states.  And, if we look at the two states with higher utility rates, Rhode Island receives yet another outstanding designation due to the fact that Hawaii and Alaska are the two states with worst costs, making us the most expensive state for utilities in the continental United States.    

But we must have the best service in the country since we pay so much for it, right?

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I think it would take a long, long time for any person to find a happy customer of National Grid on the streets of Rhode Island.  Between the ever-rising monthly costs taken straight out of our bank accounts to the constant disruptions of service during storms, and to the craters in our streets due to National Grid’s inability to adequately and properly repave their work sites, I believe I would be hard-pressed to find one Rhode Island resident who would give National Grid an “A+” for their services.

So where does that leave Rhode Islanders?

Ideally, the people we task to protect our wallets and safety in regards to our utilities would tell National Grid you don’t deserve any rate increases and that Rhode Islanders are already being nickeled and dimed enough from you.  They would tell this multi-national conglomerate that due to their greed and shoddy work, the citizens of Rhode Island will no longer be subject to their ever unlimited fees, taxes, and charges that grow with every changing of the seasons.

But, sadly, as every Rhode Islander who pays a utility bill knows, the PUC does not do this, nor does it seem they even try to protect us and our wallets.  Every year National Grid comes before them asking for more of Rhode Island’s money, and every year the PUC grants their requests.  No matter the public outcry, every year, National Grid gets the go ahead to fleece our income just a little bit more while the service provided is a little bit less satisfactory.

So the question becomes – what exactly is the PUC doing for Rhode Island residents?

I know I am not alone in wanting to know the answer to this crucial question.

Rep. Julie A. Casimiro, a Democrat, represents District 31 in North Kingstown and Exeter.