Electric rates have risen throughout the country due to several factors, including rising natural gas prices. Additional causes have been; higher than usual winter demand for electricity and a global supply shortage of natural gas and oil, worsened by the current geo-political climate abroad. Groton Utilities (GU) is proud that we have been able to absorb and mitigate these higher than normal energy costs through this past winter and, in turn, help to protect some of the most vulnerable residents through the heating season.
Groton Utilities is very sensitive to any pricing increases but unfortunately, these sustained high energy costs will cause Groton Utilities to pass some of these increases through to our customers.
Beginning April 1st, customers will see an increase in the Transmission Cost Adjustment (TCA) and Purchased Power Adjustment (PPA) portion of their electric bill. PPA will increase $0.0256/kWh while TCA will increase by $0.0016/kWh, totaling an increase of 2.72 cents per kWh.
This will impact all customer classifications from residential, to commercial and industrial. All customers should prepare for higher-than-normal bills this spring and summer. An average residential customer using 700 kWh of electricity per month could see an increase of 17% on their bill, or approximately $19.00.
Much of the electrical rate is driven by the natural gas market for Groton Utilities. Approximately 50% of GU power is created from natural gas sources. With the price of natural gas having increased more than 300% in January alone, the turbulent electric supply market has led to increases in utility bills for customers of all utilities. GU has precautions in place to stabilize electrical rates, which is why you have not previously seen a hike in rates as have many other utility customers. In fact GU absorbed over $3.5 million in additional power supply costs over this past winter. Unfortunately, we have reached a point where we can no longer absorb the increase in market costs.
While our rates have increased, please be aware that the average Groton Utilities residential customer bill is still $50 less than the average Connecticut electric utility, making our average rate 28.5% less.
Groton Utilities will continue to monitor and review the cost of power and make appropriate rate adjustments accordingly.
Groton Utilities stresses that now, more than ever, customers need to do all they can to conserve energy to reduce their monthly utility bill. We encourage customers to visit the Residential Energy Conservation section of our website and discover all the different ways you can conserve energy and save money, such as scheduling a free Home Energy Audit and/or starting a home insulation project to reduce heating & cooling costs.. Additionally, Groton Utilities is currently running a promotion on rebates for the purchase of Electric Vehicles, HVAC Mini-Splits, Hybrid Heat Pump Water Heaters and Smart Thermostats. Visit our Residential Energy Conservation Center and learn about all our current offerings.
Tags: adjustment, Groton Utilities, increase, rate, utilities