Cost of electricity going down for NH Eversource and Unitil customers
When Feb. 1 rolls around, New Hampshire utility customers are slated to see very different dollar figures on their bills compared to the same time last year.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration expects natural gas prices to decline by 24 percent from last winter. In New England, natural gas is used to produce roughly half of the region’s electricity.
Last year’s exorbitant cost of energy was mainly attributed to the war in Ukraine, the region’s overreliance on natural gas, and extreme weather events, utilities have said. The rate hikes began in summer 2022, when Eversource and Liberty ratepayers saw a twofold increase in their electric rates and only a small reprieve as rates adjusted Feb. 1. Last December, Unitil announced a 160 percent increase in its rate for an eight-month period.
This summer, electric supply rates started to come down for all utility customers, offering some much-needed relief.
Upcoming supply rate changes for Feb. 1, 2024, are likely to bring some more welcome news for Eversource and Unitil customers in the Granite State as the price of energy continues to trend downward. Meanwhile, as it also receives approval for a Feb. 1 rate decrease, Liberty Utilities has an active docket with the Public Utilities Commission where it seeks to increase its base electric distribution rates by more than $21 million over a three-year period.
The board of the New Hampshire Electric Cooperative is scheduled to meet on Dec. 19 to set its February rate.
Energy supply prices change twice in New Hampshire annually, Feb. 1 and Aug. 1, representing the cost that utilities pay generators for the power customers use.
59 percent rate decrease for Eversource residential customers
When rates change on Feb. 1, typical customers on Eversource’s default service rate are expected to see a roughly $63 decrease on total bills compared to that date last year.
Eversource last week filed significantly reduced electric supply rates with the PUC for Feb. 1 to July 31, 2024. Residential customers would see a 59 percent rate decrease from the same time last year, and a 34 percent decrease from the current supply rate.
“We are pleased that our customers will once again see lower supply rates this year after experiencing big price spikes following unprecedented volatility in energy supply markets the last couple of years,” said Eversource Executive Vice President of Customer Experience and Energy Strategy Penni Conner.
Conner noted that despite some rate relief, many customers struggle with the cost of energy. She highlighted Eversource’s available payment assistance programs and energy efficiency resources.
Unitil rate decreasing, too
On Dec. 8, the PUC approved Unitil’s proposed rate change for Feb. 1, what the state Department of Energy estimates will be a cost savings of $98 per month for the average residential customer compared to February 2023 rates.
According to the PUC order, for a residential customer using 650 kilowatt hours per month, they will see a decrease in their monthly bill of 9.9 percent compared to the current billing rates.
With news of the PUC’s approval, Gov. Chris Sununu celebrated Unitil’s rate change.
“The reduction of energy rates by 59% year-to-year for Unitil customers provides much needed relief for thousands of Granite State ratepayers,” Sununu said. “Following an earlier round of rate cuts in August, today’s announcement is a positive indicator that NH continues to move energy rates in the right direction – despite national policies out of Washington that have had a negative impact on energy costs.”
Controversial Liberty PUC rate case
Following approval by the PUC last week, Liberty Utilities’ residential rate for Feb. 1, 2024, represents a more than 35 percent decrease in a total bill compared to last year for a customer using 650 kilowatt hours per month, and a 55 percent decrease in the energy supply rate.
Meanwhile, in June, Liberty Utilities filed a request with the PUC proposing to increase its base electric distribution rates – different from the supply rate that changes twice per year – by more than $21 million over a three-year-period. The proposal has raised opposition from both the state Department of Energy and Consumer Advocate Donald Kreis.
In upping distribution rates, Liberty seeks to raise annual revenues by more than $15 million on a permanent basis and more than $6 million temporarily.
Last week, the Department of Energy submitted a motion to dismiss Liberty’s distribution rate case on the grounds that Liberty “cannot meet its burden to prove that the rates it seeks are just and reasonable due to a change Liberty made to its software systems that impacted the company’s financial accounting.”
In its motion, the DOE claims there are errors in the financial records underlying Liberty’s request, based on an audit the department conducted.
Kreis has asked the PUC to cut $4 million from Liberty’s requested distribution service rate increase, while urging flat-out rejection of the request for three additional years of automatic rate increases.
This story was originally published by the New Hampshire Bulletin
This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Cost of electricity going down for NH Eversource and Unitil customers
