Connecticut Light and Power customers should see no immediate increase in their electricity bills, and might even see their bills go down.
The state Department of Public Utility Control has approved a 14.2 percent distribution rate increase for CL&P instead of the 27.5 percent hike the company sought.
Under normal circumstances, customers would have paid an additional 2.9 percent for electricity, but that will not be the case because the competitive transition assessment is expiring and there are additional changes to other rate components that go into effect on Jan. 1, 2011, according to the Department of Public Utility Control.
“The Department estimates the net effect on customer bills will show no increase and, in fact, will likely result in some level of decrease in the total rate a customer pays,” DPUC officials said in a news release.
The state commission denied CL&P’s request to increase return on equity to 10.5 percent, but authorized 9.4 percent. The department also allowed $2.6 million more than the company requested for tree trimming.
According to the DPUC, CL&P rates declined 6.2 percent from Jan. 1, 2009 to Jan. 1, 2010, overall, residential rates dropped 7.2 percent during the same period and the cost of electricity itself is estimated to decline approximately 10 percent on Jan. 1, 2011.
What this means for the future, the Department of Public Utility Control says, is that CL&P will half of it’s proposed increase until Jan. 1, 2011 to correspond with a reduction in the CTA which will occur January 1, 2011.
