HARTFORD, Connecticut — If you're a customer with Eversource in Connecticut, the company is sending out a warning to expect an increase in prices this summer.
"We adjust our bills, the supply side of the bill, twice a year per state regulations. And what you're seeing is an unfortunate result of everything that's going on out there," said Mitch Gross, a Spokesperson for Eversource.
Starting July 1, Eversource said customers' monthly bills will go up by approximately $3.96. That's for customers who use an average of 700-kilowatt hours of electricity per month.
That's a rate increase of nearly 5% since January, according to the Office of Consumer Counsel.
There are several outside factors involved in this price increase, including the following, according to Eversource:
- A continued increase in demand for energy as the economy recovers from the pandemic and prices that were at 10-year lows
- Constraints on energy supply due to the conflict in Ukraine
- Extreme weather events within the last year or so that have impacted gas production in gas-producing states
However, the extra money customers will be paying will not be going into the pockets of those at Eversource, the company said. It'll instead go toward their suppliers.
"As the prices go up for natural gas, our power suppliers are in turn, charging higher prices to us as your delivery company to get that power to you," Gross said.
Now, this only impacts those getting their electricity directly from Eversource, not those who get it from third-party suppliers. So what does that mean and how do you tell?
Here's a sample bill from Eversource:
On the bottom right-hand side of the photo, under the words "Your electric supplier is," it says Eversource. Customers will know if they're enrolled in the Standard Service Supply Rate if they see this. Therefore, the price hike would impact that customer.
"There's never, never a good time to have this kind of announcement and we understand what our customers are going through but we have the energy efficiency programs. We have the payment plans in place," Gross said.
There's financial help from the state, too. The deadline to get help from the state has been extended by one month. Connecticut residents can apply for that help online through the Connecticut Energy Assistance Program.
The deadline for that is now the end of June, versus the end of this month.
In the meantime, here's a tip from Gross.
"Turning up the thermostat, you know for every degree you turn up, turn up the thermostat. you could save anywhere from 1% and 3%," Gross said.
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Julia LeBlanc is a reporter at FOX61 News. She can be reached at jleblanc@fox61.com Follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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