The base rate increase, if approved, would add around 4.2% to monthly residential electric bills, effective spring 2010. The bill for a residential customer who uses 1,000 kilowatt-hours a month would differ from $161.18 to $167.94, an increase by $6.76.
The utility’s proposed $54.1m increase reflects rising costs required to provide customers with safe and reliable electric service. The various factors for the price hike include higher cost of maintaining and enhancing the distribution system throughout the company’s eight-county, southern New Jersey territory.
Vince Maione, region president of Atlantic City Electric, said: “Atlantic City Electric is committed to controlling its operations and maintenance costs. We recognize the impact that higher energy prices have had on our customers in recent years and we have taken several steps operationally to keep costs down. Some of those steps include a freeze on salaries, capped staffing levels, scaled-back medical benefits and reduced pension benefits for new hires.”
Supply rates, which are a separate category of rates, are adjusted periodically to reflect the cost of power that Atlantic City Electric buys on behalf of its customers. Supply costs are driven primarily by the cost of fuel to make electricity. Customers, who buy from a competing supplier, would see the same increase in their base rates. Their new total monthly bill would vary according to the per-kilowatt-hour price charged by their supplier.
Atlantic City Electric provides safe, reliable and affordable regulated electric delivery services to approximately 547,000 customers in southern New Jersey.
