Liberty Utilities: Electric Supply Rates Will Increase

Liberty Utilities (Granite State Electric) Corp. filed proposed winter electric supply rates with the New Hampshire Public Utilities Commission last week.

The company is asking the Commission to approve a rate of 15.4 cents per kWh for the winter season beginning Nov. 1, and continuing through April 30, 2015. 

There are two main charges on a customer’s electric bill: energy supply and distribution. Energy supply is the cost of the electricity purchased on the open energy market. Liberty purchases that energy at market prices and passes the cost directly to customers. The company does not profit from this charge. While Liberty cannot control the market cost of energy supply, it purchases the lowest cost supply available to serve its customers. Customers do have the ability to purchase their energy from a third party supplier. If a customer purchases from a third party supplier, Liberty will continue to deliver the energy and will include the supplier’s charges in the customer’s monthly bill, but the cost of the energy will be based on the agreement between the customer and the supplier.

According to John Shore, spokesman for Liberty Utilities, “The high cost of electricity that is expected this winter is largely due to the insufficient natural gas pipeline system in New England.” Electric generation facilities in the region continue to increase their reliance on natural gas as fuel. While natural gas supplies are abundant and relatively inexpensive in other parts of the country, the limited pipeline capacity in the region is strained in winter. The demand for natural gas for home heating reduces the volume of gas available for electric generation facilities relying on the fuel.

“We are very aware that this rate increase may be a hardship for some of our customers,” said Shore, “so we encourage them to take advantage of the bill assistance and energy efficiency programs that we offer.”

Liberty offers several programs including the Electric Assistance Program (EAP) which helps income eligible customers reduce their energy bill between 9% and 77%. Budget billing plans and payment arrangements are also available. Information on these programs as well as energy efficiency rebate programs and tips for saving energy is available on the Liberty Utilities website at libertyutilities.com. Additionally, information on choosing a third party supplier can be found on the Commission’s website at puc.state.nh.us/Electric/electric.htm .

About Liberty Utilities Co.

Liberty Utilities Co. is an independent water, natural gas and electric company providing local utility management, service and support to small and mid-sized communities across the United States. With more than 450,000 customers, Liberty Utilities Co. is committed to local decision making that directly meets the needs of its customers. This means providing walk in customer service centers, creating jobs, and delivering responsive and reliable service. Liberty Utilities promotes local conservation and energy efficiency initiatives and for businesses and residential customers, including the low-income sector. The company measures its performance on customer experience, public and workplace safety, and service reliability. Liberty Utilities companies currently operate in nine states in the US. In New Hampshire, Liberty Utilities provides services to 86,000 natural gas and 43,000 electric distribution customers.

For more information, please visit LibertyUtilities.com.

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