Rate hike request spurs complaints

At a public hearing, a lawyer for Narragansett Electric cites rising fuel prices as the primary reason for the increase.

 Friday, August 19, 2005, BY RICHARD SALIT, Journal Staff Writer

NEWPORT -- Narragansett Electric's plans to raise rates 12.4 percent may be unstoppable, but that doesn't mean the utility can't do more to help those who will be hit the hardest by the biggest rate hike in seven years, a social activist testified last night.

William F. Flynn Jr., representing the antipoverty George Wiley Center, sat at a Public Utilities Commission hearing and listened to a variety of officials describe the proposed rate increase as all but certain. The law, they said, essentially permits the utility to pass on to its customers the higher prices it pays to buy energy.

"We understand the law," said Flynn, when he stepped up to address commission members. But, he said, "We reject the notion there's not a single thing you can do to protect the low-income customers."

Flynn urged the commission to require that the utility adopt the same program of its sister company in New Hampshire, another utility owned by National Grid. There, poor people in arrears on their electricity bills are forgiven their debts one time.

Also, he said, the commission can strive to ensure that the utility does not employ overly aggressive tactics in going after customers who are late making payments, typically people on fixed incomes, including the elderly.

Under the proposed rate hike, the typical customer -- one who uses 500 kilowatts of electricity -- would pay $70.58 a month, or $7.81 more than they do now, according to documents the company filed with the commission last month. The rates could have gone up Sept. 1, but that date has been indefinitely postponed to allow the commission to continue holding public hearings around the state .

Laura S. Otton, a lawyer for the utility, echoed the reasons cited in the filing for the increase.

"As you know, we have been experiencing rapidly increasing fuel prices. We have all seen this at the pump," she said. Under the law, she said, "You cannot force Narragansett to lose money on a product it is simply delivering."

The company makes no profit from buying electricity on behalf of its customers. Its profits come from distributing the electricity.

Kathleen O'Connell said that customers like herself, who elect to pay 12 percent more in their bills to support alternative energy sources, shouldn't be hit with the same price hike.

David Brown, another Newport customer, urged the commission "to give some consideration to the little people . . . the people who get behind in their bills . . . Not all of us are rich. We don't all live in mansions."

Flynn noted that in Newport, the ongoing redevelopment of public housing at Tonomy Hill into a mixed-income development called Newport Heights is requiring tenants to accept responsibility for utility bills. Before, their subsidized rent covered these costs.

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