Projo Biz Blog

The Public Utilities Commission may have little choice but to grant National Grid's request for a 5.2 percent hike in electricity rates that would take effect Jan. 1 and raise the monthly bill of a typical customer who uses 500 kilowatt hours of electricty by $3.80.

That's because the PUC has little discretion on rate requests that are based on rising fuel bills, as long as the companies make prudent buying decisions. Representatives of National Grid, the electricity distributor that made the rate hike request, told the commissions at a hearing Friday that the proposal was based on the rising cost of crude oil, which is used to make the electricity.

Representatives of the George Wiley Center, a Pawtucket-based advocacy group for the poor, opposed the rate hike request, arguing that people are are already paying record prices for energy this winter.

National Grid spokesman David Graves said the utilities commissioners could vote on its request this week.

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