CT Light And Power Customers May See Rates Decrease

State residents who get their power from CL&P should notice a drop in their bills this January. The utility announced its generation expenses will fall more than expected in the new year. WNPR’s Harriet Jones reports.

Wholesale electric rates have been dropping quite steeply since 2008, but Connecticut utility customers haven’t seen a comparable drop in rates, because utilities here are locked into long term power buying contracts. With the renewal of contracts at more favorable rates, Connecticut Light and Power had already anticipated that its generation charges would go down by about 10%, or one cent per kilowatt hour in January.

But now it says the fall will be around 14%. Customers won’t see the full benefit of that, because at the same time distribution charge will rise, but they should notice a break in their monthly bill. CL&P hasn’t yet put a number on how much an average bill will fall, but the utility says it should be able to do so by mid-December. CL&P also says electric rates should drop again either in mid-2011, or at the beginning of 2012.

For WNPR, I'm Harriet Jones.