NEWS FROM
MANCHESTER, NH – Eversource customers in New Hampshire will see a reduction in energy costs beginning in April as the company shifts to purchasing power from the wholesale energy market. The New Hampshire Public Utilities Commission has approved the company’s request to reduce its energy charge by about 30 percent to a fixed rate of 7.903 cents per kilowatt hour for residential and small commercial customers, and about 26 percent to a monthly average rate of 8.327 cents per kWh for large commercial and industrial customers. The new, lower charges will be in effect for a four-month period beginning April 1.
“This reduction in energy costs for our customers is one of the many important benefits of the comprehensive restructuring and rate stabilization agreement we entered into in 2015,” said Eversource New Hampshire President Bill Quinlan. “Moving forward, we will purchase energy from the competitive markets, and we expect our costs to be in line with those paid by the other New Hampshire electric distribution companies. As New England experienced this winter, energy prices can be more volatile during the heating season when energy demand is high, and natural gas capacity for electricity generation is constrained.”
The reduced energy charge will be in place for the four-month period from April 1 to July 31. Moving forward, Eversource’s energy charge will be adjusted twice each year, on August 1 and February 1. The timing of the six-month periods was selected, in collaboration with the NHPUC, to reduce price volatility during the winter months when energy costs are high. Twice each year Eversource will issue a Request for Proposal to the wholesale energy marketplace, seeking the lowest price to serve its energy service customers for a six-month period. That price must ultimately be reviewed and approved by the NHPUC. This is the same method that has been used for many years by other New Hampshire electric distribution companies.
Now pending before the NHPUC is an Eversource request to adjust the Stranded Cost Recovery Charge, one element of the delivery portion of a monthly bill. The preliminary filing anticipates an increase in the SCRC, largely as payment on bonds that will be issued to cover costs remaining after the recent sale of the company’s regulated power plants. State lawmakers in 2015 approved legislation to issue the bonds to reduce costs compared to what they would otherwise be. The filing is preliminary. The actual amount of the SCRC increase will be determined following NHPUC hearings and issuance of the bonds.
The reduction of the energy charge, combined with the pending requested adjustment to the Stranded Cost Recovery Charge, if approved, would result in a monthly bill reduction of $9.30, or 7.5 percent, from $123.64 to $114.34, for residential customers who purchase energy from Eversource and consume 600 kWh/month.
Customers in New Hampshire have the right to choose to purchase energy from a competitive energy supplier instead of their regulated utility. Eversource provides energy service to those customers who have not chosen a supplier or who have been unable to receive service from a competitive energy supplier. A list of registered energy suppliers is available at http://www.puc.state.nh.us/consumer/energysuppliers.htm.
Eversource (NYSE: ES) transmits and delivers electricity and natural gas and supplies water to approximately 4 million customers in Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Recognized as the top U.S. utility for its energy efficiency programs by the sustainability advocacy organization Ceres, Eversource harnesses the commitment of its more than 8,300 employees across three states to build a single, united company around the mission of safely delivering reliable energy and water with superior customer service. For more information, please visit our website (www.eversource.com) and follow us on Twitter (@EversourceCorp) and Facebook (facebook.com/EversourceEnergy). For more information on our water services, visit www.aquarionwater.com.
