MALONE — Lower electricity rates for National Grid business and residential customers will mean temporary savings on bills this year.
But the power company plans to ask the State Public Service Commission for a rate increase that would start in 2013.
Until then, homeowners could save $6 a month on their bill, small businesses about $7, mid-sized industries about $8,300 and large-scale power users about $19,000 a month, a company news release states.
Savings for school
Malone Central School District could save as much as 30 percent on its electric bill under the rate decrease.
"I haven't even told the board about this yet," District Business Administrator Timothy Whipple said earlier this week. "I was waiting until our next board meeting in two weeks."
Electricity savings will be in addition to what the district expects to save with energy-efficiency upgrades made in most of its buildings through a $29.2 million capital-improvement project.
"It's hard to know what we'll be saving in terms of the project because we haven't gone through a full year yet," Whipple said.
"But coupled with this (rate reduction), we anticipate having a much lower electric National Grid bill this year."
The district expects to pay about 10 cents per kilowatt hour compared to the 17 to 19 cents it is charged now, he said.
LOSS COMPENSATION
Bills for residential customers using 500 kilowatt hours will go from about $80 to $74 a month and, for small commercial customers, from $93 to $86.
And bills for mid-sized industrial customers using 750 kilowatts per month will drop from $37,380 to about $29,075, and large-scale customers using 4,000 kilowatts will go from about $139,400 down to $120,100 a month.
The rate reduction is partly based on the decision 10 years ago by the New York State Public Service Commission to deregulate the power industry.
It ordered all power companies to sell off their power-generation assets, such as nuclear plants.
Many were sold at a loss, and, as compensation, the commission allowed the impacted companies to collect competitive transition charges, which amounted to $537 million for National Grid, said Patrick Stella of its Public Affairs Office.
TEMPORARY SAVINGS
The 10-year compensation term was up as of Dec. 31, so the company will no longer collect that fee.
But it will — for the next 15 months — charge customers a fee to collect a total of $236 million it is owed in deferred-payment expenses incurred through system upgrades and the regular increases in the cost of doing business, Stella said.
The $301 million difference between the ending of one fee collection and start of the other, smaller amount is where the temporary savings comes in, he said.
The collection of the deferred-payment fee ends about the same time the company expects a final decision from state on its requested rate increase for 2013.
Seeking an increase will "stabilize the rates with the hope that it has minimal impact on the customer," Stella said.
Email Denise A. Raymo at: draymo@pressrepublican.com
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