Largest companies stung by utility hike

PROVIDENCE — The state Public Utilities Commission approved a 15 percent rate
hike to those electric users who left Narragansett Electric under an air of competition
and returned to a rate that is called Last Resort Service. The rate applies primarily
to the state’s largest electricity users, some of them among the state’s largest
companies, like Toray Plastics. That company, among others, testified that the
impact of the rate hike will be “huge,” adding substantial cost that exceeds what
competitors are paying elsewhere in the country. A year ago the state’s largest
customers were paying 3.8 cents per kilowatt-hour for electric generation. In
January that rate was 7.75 cents per kilowatt-hour, and under the PUC plan it
rises to 8.925 cents on Feb. 1, drops to 8.505 cents in March and 7.875 cents
in April.