Standard service rates billed to businesses and residents by Connecticut’s two electric utilities will drop several cents starting July 1, regulators announced Wednesday.
Eversource rates will fall from 9.56 cents per kilowatt hour to 6.61 cents for the “summer cycle” period, which runs from July to December. The utility, which has the largest territory in the state, charged 8.23 cents during the 2015 summer cycle. Eversource said in a statement that the newly approved rate is its lowest since 2004, and that it will translate to a decrease of $21 in the average customer’s monthly bill.
Meanwhile, United Illuminating, which is now owned by Avangrid, will charge 8.02 cents, down from 10.74 cents in the first half of this year and 9.12 cents in the 2015 summer cycle.
The approved rates are related to electricity generation – charges that comprise approximately 40 percent of an average customer’s electricity bill, according to the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority.
Ratepayer bills also include charges related to transmission and government-mandated efficiency programs. At this time last year, PURA said approximately half of the amounts billed to ratepayers stemmed from generation charges
PURA approves changes to the standard service rates twice a year, following competitive auctions held by the two utilities.
Approximately two-thirds of the state’s ratepayers pay the utilities for generation. The remainder use third-party power suppliers.
