Unitil (www.unitil.com) announced today that its Massachusetts based utility, Fitchburg Gas and Electric Light Company d/b/a Unitil, filed a petition with the Department of Public Utilities requesting approval of a comprehensive revenue decoupling proposal and for a change its electric delivery rates for its customers.
The Company’s revenue decoupling proposal is modeled closely on proposals already approved by the Department for other electric utilities operating in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and is intended to facilitate the achievement of important public policy objectives of fostering energy efficiency, conservation and protecting the environment. The proposed rates are scheduled to change in conjunction with the implementation of revenue decoupling and are subject to the review and approval of the Department of Public Utilities.
In its petition the Company is also seeking approval of a rate-impact mitigation alternative that would offset, in whole, any distribution revenue increase with a corresponding decrease in the Company’s Transition Charge. If implemented, there would be no overall increase in rates. Residential electric customers who use an average of 600 kilowatt hours of electricity or less a month would see no increase in their bill under the Company’s proposal.
“Our goal has been to mitigate the rate impact on our electric customers and, at the same time, move forward with a revenue decoupling proposal that encourages energy efficiency and supports the investments we are making to improve reliability and service to our customers,” Unitil Media Relations Manager Alec O’Meara said. “We believe our proposal accomplishes this balance.”
The Company has also filed for approval of a comprehensive revenue decoupling proposal and associated change in its natural gas distribution base rates. Details of the proposed change in gas distribution base rates are included in a separate release.
