Electric utility customers will see rates increase

By THEO EMERY

Associated Press

BOSTON -- More than a half-million utility customers will see their electric rates increase this winter, in some cases as much as 40 percent -- a trickle-down effect from the rising costs of oil and gas.

Mike Durand, spokesman for NSTAR, the parent company of Boston Edison, Commonwealth Electric and Cambridge Electric, said yesterday the increases are "pass through" charges to consumers due to rising prices for the fuel used to generate electricity.

"When costs go up, certainly no one likes that. We don't like it, customers don't like it," Durand said. "But when you have oil at a 10-year high and gas at a 15-year high, it directly affects the cost of electricity."

Utilities began notifying customers last weekend that on Dec. 1, they will begin charging higher rates.

The Massachusetts Department of Telecommunications and Energy approved the increases last Thursday, a department spokesman said.

The increase applies to more than 500,000 utility customers with six companies who signed up for power after March 1, 1998. They account for about a quarter of the state's electricity subscribers.

Some 200,000 Boston Edison customers will see rates increase from 4.5 cents per kilowatt hour to 6.28 cents -- averaging to an increase of about $8.90 a month. About 86,000 Cambridge Electric and Commonwealth Electric customers will see rates go up 3.8 cents per kilowatt hour to 6.28 cents -- translating to a $12.41 monthly hike for Commonwealth Electric, and about $8 for Cambridge Electric.

Another 250,000 Massachusetts Electric customers, including those on Cape Ann, will see rates go from 3.8 cents per kilowatt hour to 6.37 cents. That's an increase of about $12.85 each month, the company said.

But companies are also seeking increases for most of the state's remaining electric customers, who could be affected by rate increases utility companies proposed in late summer. Those rates, which would increase bills from 4 to 12 percent, have not yet been approved.

Rob Sargent, senior analyst with the Massachusetts Public Interest Research Group, said the increases fly in the face of utilities' promise that rates would fall after the state's 1998 electric deregulation.

"What we're seeing is that we were profoundly mislead by the utilities who drove the thing through and their allies over the objections of consumer groups," Sargent said.

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-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), October 25, 2000