North Adams Residents Get First Bills For Electrical Supplier Switch
 National Grid customers being switched over to new supplier Hampshire Power will see a 'transition' price in this month's bill of the new and old rates. |
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — November's electric bills had a lot of residents scratching their heads.
The city joined with nine other communities in an electrical aggregation program this fall to purchase power from a different, and lower cost, supplier.
Hampshire Power offered a set rate of $0.12191 per kilowatt hour compared to National Grid's raised rate of $0.16273 per kWh. The switch was set for Nov. 1, the same day National Grid's rate increase went into effect.
But what ratepayers saw on their bills was $0.13341 — which didn't correlate to any of the stated rates. It's really a "transition" number of National Grid's rates and the Hampshire rates because the billing period ran from the middle of October to the middle of November.
Administrative Officer Michael Canales said he's been fielding calls from confused residents since they received their bills. It's been difficult to explain, he said, because of the different rates and calculations.
Brian Murphy of Colonial Power Group Inc., the broker for the municipal group, wrote that the transition calculation compares fixed the basic service rate to what the ratepayer would have been charged under the variable price option to cover both the usage by the customer and the cost to the supplier during the short transition.
"We apply this adjustment to ensure that all Basic Service customers are billed for the actual cost of Basic Service electricity they consumed," he wrote. "The calculation uses the monthly rates under the Variable Price Option because they represent our monthly cost of supplying Basic Service to you for the months (or weeks, in the case of North Adams) before you left Basic Service."
Residents would see different amounts depending on usage and when their meters were read.
That "Basic Service Fixed Price" (a blending of the old rate and the new) was then offset or increased by the market rate adjustment representing any cost to supplying the electricity until the switch.
"In North Adams, this adjustment happens to be a credit, reflecting the difference between the Fixed Rate ($0.16273/kWh) and the November Variable Rate ($0.010492/kWh)," explained Murphy.
The next bill will show the fixed rate for Hampshire Power only, except for those who have opted out of the program or who already purchase their power from a different supplier. Residents can opt out at any time.
For example, a resident using 400 kWh would pay $65.092 if still on National Grid or $48.764 for Hampshire Power (not including all the other charges).
The December bill should clear up any confusion.
"All this blending has to happen to make this transition," Canales said. "Everybody next month will see single bill."
Tags: electrical aggregation, electricity, energy rates,
