Residents would be penalized for doing too good a job of conserving, selectmen say.
LUDLOW – Selectmen, at the urging of Selectman Aaron Saunders, has voted to write a letter to the state Department of Public Utilities opposing the rate increase requested by Western Massachusetts Electric Co.
The utility says it needs the rate increase to help cover the costs to upgrade its network of aging poles and wires, add to its staff of line workers and provide for an increasing number of indigent customers who, because of illness or the presence of young children in the household, cannot be made to pay their bills.
If approved, the rate increase would hike the average household customer’s bill by 8.2 percent. For the average family which uses about 600 kilowatt hours of power a month, the bill would go from $90.89 to $98.39, according to WMECO’s calculations.
Saunders told his fellow selectmen that WMECO is seeking to underwrite a 10.5 percent profit margin.
Saunders said that WMECO is frustrated because energy saving appliances have lowered the amount of electricity customers use.
If the rate increase is approved, customers would be penalized “for doing too good a job of conserving,” he said.
The company has said its revenue is down due to the recession and customers using more energy star appliances and compact fluorescent light bulbs.
“Neither residents or businesses can afford this rate increase,” Saunders said. “This will impact businesses and jobs in Springfield and Ludlow.”
The Board of Selectmen voted 4 to 0, with Selectman Jason Barroso abstaining, to oppose the proposed rate increase.
The Department of Public Utilities will make the decision on the proposed rate increase. In November, the agency cut National Grid’s proposed rate increase by $67 million, or 60 percent.
WMECO has 210,000 customers in 59 cities and towns in Western Massachusetts covering 1,500 square miles.
Western Massachusetts Electric Co. hopes to have a rate increase in effect by February 2011.
At a hearing held in Springfield last month, businessmen and residents packed a hearing to indicate their opposition to the rate increase.