PROVIDENCE – Rhode Island Energy customers will see some relief from historically high winter electricity rates with the warmer weather, though summer electricity bills will be higher than in previous years.
On Wednesday, the R.I. Public Utilities Commission approved Rhode Island Energy’s proposed April-September electricity rates, which include base charge, last resort service charge and renewable energy standard charge for residential, commercial and industrial customers.
The approved last resort service rates set residential totals at 10.341 cents per kilowatt-hour and 9.997 cents/kWh for commercial customers of Rhode Island Energy, the state’s largest electricity provider.
On a monthly basis, that sets total residential electricity rates at $130.78 in April for a household using an average of 500 kWh per month, down from a $147.90 rate in January. The bill for a commercial customer using 1000 kWh per month will be $243.5, compared to current amount $294.97.
While a sharp drop from the most recent winter’s charges, which sat at 17.15 cents/kWh, the upcoming spring and summer rates remain significantly higher than last year’s totals: April 2022 rates were 7.81 cents/kWh for residential customers, and 8.05 cents/kWh for fixed-rate residential customers.
The new rates will go into effect on Saturday, April 1, and last through Sept. 30.
(Update; An earlier version of this story gave inaccurate last resort service rates and amounts of a typical customer’s monthly bill.)
Jacquelyn Voghel is a PBN staff writer. You may reach her at Voghel@PBN.com.
