Electric Rates Will Decrease in January

Residents and businesses in the city will see somewhat lower bills come January 1, 2012 when electricity generation rates decrease just over a cent per kilowatt-hour.

The state's Public Utilities Regulatory Authority approved the decrease on Monday. Both Connecticut Light & Power (CL&P) and United Illuminating (UI) customers throughout the state will see a change in their bills.

In Meriden, where most customers are served by CL&P, residents will see a decrease of about 1.2 cents per kilowatt-hour on their monthly tab. Each kWh will go from 9.482 cents to 8.279 cents.

For a household that uses 750 kilowatts per hour, that's a $9 decrease per month, according to a press statement from the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority. Generation rates in the state have been decreasing since 2006, and the new residential rates are 4.133 cents per kWh lower than in 2009.

Generation rates for CL&P business customers will be reduced by about 1.4 cents in 2012, according to the authority.

UI residential and business customers in the state will see a 1.8 cent decrease per kilowatt-hour - dropping the rate from 10.616 cents to 8.727 cents per kilowatt-hour.

This decrease will not have an impact on CL&P and UI customers who have chosen a third party electric supplier to generate their electricity – only those who still have standard CL&P and UI service generation. About 53 percent of utility customers in Connecticut continue to use CL&P and UI as their supplier.