AG fears electricity plan may boost rates
Article by Jay Fitzgerald
Attorney General Martha Coakley vowed yesterday to keep a sharp eye on a new National Grid rate plan that she said has the potential to “significantly” raise prices for electricity customers.
The state’s Department of Public Utilities yesterday ordered that National Grid’s request for a $111 million rate increase should be slashed by 60 percent.
Though overall the rate will still go up by more than $40 million, the DPU’s action could lead to small decreases in electric bills for residential customers, due to the way the utility is allowed to distribute rate charges. Prices for businesses will likely increase.
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Complaints soar as gas, electricity prices increase
article by Brian Robins
SURGING electricity and gas prices have resulted in a record number of complaints about the billing practices of utilities companies at the same time as growing numbers of people face disconnection.
The Energy and Water Ombudsman, Clare Petrie, said that in addition to the big increase in the number of complaints because of price rises, more households were seeking help to pay their bills.
In the year to June there was a 35 per cent rise in the number of customers contacted by debt collection agencies about amounts due on their utility bills. This situation was expected to worsen as gas and electricity companies moved to speed up debt collection.
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KVAR EC featured on Living Green
“I use a compressor all the time, its always running,“ says Michael Bissell of Garden City. Michael Bissell stays busy doing lots of woodworking projects around the house. But he says his utility bill is paying for it.
“It just draws a lot, and you know throws the bill up. But I like to do, when I get home and relax,“ he says.
