PROVIDENCE – National Grid Rhode Island customers can expect to see their bills increase starting next month to help pay for the company’s energy efficiency programs, but not by as much as previously proposed.
The company on Wednesday updated its 2022 Energy Efficiency Plan based on conditions set by state regulators in their approval of the spending plan and rate charges. Under these revisions, the average residential customer would see their annual combined gas and electric bill increase by $40.78 – $6.94 increase in electric and $33.84 increase in gas – beginning Feb. 1. While still more than what they would have paid for the same usage in 2021, the revised rates save residential customers about $9 per year on the combined bill compared with what National Grid proposed for 2022 in its original filings to the R.I. Public Utilities Commission.
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The changes come after the commission on Tuesday set a series of conditions and amendments tied to its approval of the company’s 2022 Energy Efficiency Plan, which ultimately lowered its total budget and, in turn, the service fees charged to customers to help pay for the spending plan.
Among the changes made by the commission were limits to National Grid’s regulatory contributions to other agencies with energy efficiency programs, such as the R.I. Office of Energy Resources and R.I. Energy Efficiency & Resource Management Council. This stemmed from commission concerns over oversight and tracking of how these funds are spent, particularly among the 15-member, government-appointed EERMC.
The revised $145.5 million combined natural gas and electric energy efficiency budget for 2022 is about 4% less than the spending plan approved for 2021. However, service fees charged to customers are going up anyway, in part to make up for overspending in 2021 on the company’s home weatherization services. Pent-up demand combined with workforce shortages meant the company spent at least $6.1 million more than it budgeted on these programs in 2021, although the final tally on the overrun has still not been calculated. As part of its approval, the commission also required National Grid to report back with the year-end overspend on this program by April 1.
Nancy Lavin is a PBN staff writer. You may reach her at Lavin@PBN.com.
