Electric bills for Eversource customers are slated to go up this summer, according to bill adjustments released by the utility this week.
The average residential customer can expect a hike of about $13 per month starting July 1.
The rate adjustments come as residents enter the summer months, when people typically consume more power, turning on air conditioners to cool their homes.
The upcoming price hike is a confluence of two forces: a scheduled mid-year rate adjustment to so-called “supply rates” (the cost of electricity used) and a separate set of bill charges, which Connecticut regulators recently approved to go up for 10 months starting July 1.
While the supply rate typically drops during the summer, the approved 10-month price boost, along with increased power usage, means many customers are likely to see an increase in their bills this summer.
For United Illuminating, the average customer will see a monthly bill increase of roughly $30, the company previously said.
Utilities say the latest round of rate adjustments are pass-through costs they do not control, which are needed to help recoup expenses for policies enacted by lawmakers.
But lawmakers have scoffed at the rate hikes, calling the changes unsustainable in a state with some of the highest electric rates in the country.
Last week, the state’s three-member Public Utilities Regulatory Authority voted 2-1 in favor of the 10-month rate adjustments.
PURA Chairman Marissa Gillett voted against the increase. Gillett said that the increase should have been spread out over a longer time period to lessen the impact on customers.
“Instead, customers will bear the brunt of this extraordinary volatility and anomalous conditions over the course of an unreasonably short period of time given the magnitude of costs at stake,” she wrote.
The $13-a-month hike will vary based on a person’s consumption.
Eversource’s estimate was for residential customers consuming 700 kilowatt-hours of electricity per month.
Across the Northeast, electricity consumption varies based on location and type of home. The typical single-family detached home uses around 850 kilowatt-hours per month, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. For apartments and mobile homes, the rate is lower, the agency says.
Note: Gregory B. Butler, who is an executive with Eversource Energy, is a member of Connecticut Public's Board of Trustees.
