Following is a press release from Connecticut Light & Power regarding the decrease in rates following the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority’s (PURA) approval of those new rates:

CL&P Residential Customers Will See Rate Reduction of 7.5% In New Year

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Residential customers of Connecticut Light and Power (CL&P) should see their 2012 monthly utility bills go down to their lowest levels in nearly seven years, following approval of new rates by the Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA).

A CL&P residential (Rate 1) customer who has not chosen an alternative electricity supplier and uses 700 kilowatts per month will see a rate decrease of 7.5 percent or $9.25 per month. Their monthly bill will go from $123.61 down to $114.36, the lowest monthly total since 2005.

“The lower rates are primarily due to falling natural gas prices, which affects how much we pay for power,” said Jim Muntz, Acting President of CL&P. “This is very positive news not only for our residential customers, but for all of our Standard Service customers, who will see reductions in their rates.”

Standard Service includes all residential customers, small commercial and industrial customers, and streetlight customers who have not chosen an alternative electricity supplier and who have a peak demand of less than 500 kilowatts of electricity per month. These new rates affect about 703,000 or 58 percent of CL&P’s over 1.2 million customers.

While residential and small business customers will see a decrease, rates for 159 large commercial and industrial customers who have not chosen an alternative electricity suppler, also known as Last Resort Service or LRS customers, will increase by 10.6 percent for the three-month period of January 1 to March 31, 2012. The increase in LRS rates is due to increased power supply costs that third party wholesale electric suppliers are charging CL&P for these customers.

Power for Standard Service customers is purchased several times a year over three year spans. CL&P selects the best prices at the points in time the contracts are bid. This periodic purchasing helps moderate the impact of market swings, whether up or down. The impact on Last Resort Service customers is more direct because CL&P is required to purchase power for all of their needs on a quarterly basis; therefore, market swings affect the price more directly.

CL&P continues to encourage all customers to save energy and money by participating in our energy efficiency programs and services. They are outlined on our Web site: www.cl-p.com or customers can call 1-877-WISE-USE.

The Connecticut Light and Power Company (CL&P) has been part of everyday life in Connecticut for more than 100 years, providing safe and reliable electric service to homes, neighborhoods and businesses. With 1.2 million customers in 149 cities and towns, CL&P is improving the environments you live in, by offering programs in energy conservation, economic development and environmental stewardship. CL&P is a Northeast Utilities company (NYSE: NU). For more information, please visit www.cl-p.com , like us on Facebook at facebook.com/CTLightandPower and follow us on Twitter @CTLightandPower.

PURA Sets 2012 Standard Service Electric Rates; New Prices Continue Trend of Decreasing Rates

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The following press release was issued by the CT Department of Energy & Environmental Protection It gives the specific rates that will be charged come the new year:

The Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) today finalized reduced rates for Standard Service customers of Connecticut Light & Power (CL&P) and United Illuminating (UI).

As a result of PURA’s action, effective January 1, 2012:

• CL&P Residential Standard Service rate will be 16.352 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh). This represents a decline of 1.341 cents kWh from the 2011 rates and a two-year decline of 2.667 cents kWh.
• UI’s Residential Standard Service rate will be 21.5704 cents kWh. This represents a decline of 1.9932 cents kWh from the 2011 rates and a two-year decline of 2.3476 cents kWh.

With the new Standard Service rates, the average residential customers of CL&P using 700 kW/h a month will save $9.39 per month compared to 2011 and $18.67 per month compared to 2010. The savings for the average UI customer will be $13.96 per month compared to 2011 and $16.44 per month compared to 2010.
The 2012 rates were completed after PURA acted today to finalize the various components that make up electric bills including Generation, Distribution, Transmission, Public Benefit, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy charges.

In November, PURA had acted to approve the Generation Service Charge which is the single largest component of monthly electric bills and makes up about half of monthly charges.

The PURA action in November reduced Generate Rates by 1.2 cents kWh for CL&P residential Standard Service customers and 1.8 cents kWh for UI residential Standard Service customers.

Approximately 53% of the Connecticut’s 1.5 million residential customers take standard service generation from CL&P and UI. The remaining residential customers have opted to have their electricity provided by other approved electric suppliers, which can further reduce generation rates for consumers.

Compare Your Rate To CL&P, Other Alternate Suppliers

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Compare rates being charged by alternate suppliers with that being charged by CL&P by visiting CTEnergyInfo.com.  Once there, choose whether you are a residential customer or a business customer, then whether you are a CL&P customer or a United Illuminating customer, click on your choice and you will be taken to a table comparing rates from the different companies.

Note that the CL&P rate is valid through the end of this month, December 2011.  On January 1 the rate should be adjusted to the lower rate announced in the press releases above.  At that point you may find that the lower CL&P rate may be better than that being charged by other suppliers.

Many Thanks to CTWatchdog.com for bringing the CTEnergyInfo.com website to our attention.

Utility work in early November following the late-October storm that left CL&P customers in the dark for varying periods of time. Photo: Maria Moore