Consumers who are scrambling to lower their electric rates in the new year are being urged to exercise caution. Looming rate increases from Connecticut Light and Power and United Illuminating have many considering signing up for an alternative supplier for the first time.
The state’s consumer counsel, Elin Swanson Katz, said there are opportunities to save, but it pays to read any rate offer very carefully. She told a news conference it is possible to save money -- realistically about $16.00 a month in some cases, but "if you choose the wrong supplier, or if you end up on a variable rate, based on numbers that are out today, you could pay as much as $65.00 more a month for energy."
While consumers can shop for cheaper power from an independent supplier, they may still be stuck with higher distribution charges. A CL&P spokesman has reiterated the utility's case for hiking fixed fees, even as regulators say they'll slash the company's original request.
The Public Utility Regulatory Authority issued a draft decision that limits the average consumer's increase in fixed fees from $16.00 a month to $19.25. CL&P had wanted the fee to go to $25.00 to help pay for hardening power infrastructure.
Spokesman Mitch Gross told WNPR's Where We Live that the utility is reviewing the draft decision and deciding whether to file comments.
"We certainly sympathize with our customers," Gross said. "We continue to work on the system, we continue to make upgrades...In order for investors to be interested in us, our parent company Northeast Utilities needs to be a healthy company. Profit margin is only part of the story. Our customers have to realize the tens of millions of dollars we put back into the system every year."
PURA will make its final determination on CL&P's rate case around December 17.
