Eversource files for statewide rate increases
Expressing a commitment to energy reliability and clean energy technologies, Eversource filed a rate request with state regulators Tuesday that would boost charges to its eastern Massachusetts customers by 7 percent and hit western Massachusetts with a roughly 10 percent increase in their monthly bills.
According to the company, the proposed rates would add about $8.45 to the monthly bill of an eastern Massachusetts customer "to alleviate a revenue deficiency of roughly $60 million." In western Massachusetts, proposed rates would add roughly $11.64 to the monthly bill of a typical customer using 550 kilowatt hours of electricity, the company said, addressing a revenue deficiency of $35.7 million in that service area.
Eversource has 1.4 million electricity customers in 140 Massachusetts communities and 300,000 natural gas customers in 51 communities.
Company officials said the planned rates incorporate costs associated with capital investments geared towards improving service reliability, and are based on "actual operation and maintenance cost deficiencies for a test year ending June 30, 2016."
"Customers are experiencing fewer and shorter outages as a result of our smart investments in sophisticated technology," Craig Hallstrom, president of Massachusetts Electric Operations at Eversource, said in a statement. "We've also worked hard to improve reliability for customers with efforts like our enhanced tree trimming programs, all while holding the line on rising costs. Now, we're proposing to increase that commitment and utilize the latest engineering advances - including electric vehicle infrastructure and energy storage systems - for the benefit of customers."
If approved after a Department of Public Utilities review and public comments, the new rates would go into effect Jan. 1, 2018.
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