National Grid to drop electric rates on May 1

National Grid workers stand in front of a National Grid truck in front of the DCU Center in Worcester.

Photo | Grant Welker National Grid truck outside of the DCU Center

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By Kevin Koczwara

Utility company National Grid plc announced on Thursday it is reducing electric bills for its customers who received its basic service starting on May 1.

The announcement comes after the utility company filed a proposed summer rate adjustment with the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities. If the proposal is approved, residents’ bills will go down by about 39%. According to National Grid, an average customer uses roughly 600-kilowatt hours per month and the supply price will drop from $0.34 a kilowatt hour to $0.14 per kilowatt hour.

National Grid purchases its electricity wholesale from the power market. The utility will move from its winter to its summer rate on May 1. Summer rates are traditionally lower than winter because there is usually less demand for natural gas, a major source of energy for electricity suppliers. Nearly half of the region’s electric generating capacity uses natural gas as its primary fuel, and power plants fueled by natural gas produce about half of the grid electricity used in a year, according to ISO New England, which manages the region’s electric grid.

“We understand that high energy costs have been challenging for customers,” Helen Burt, chief customer officer for National Grid US, said in a press release on Thursday. “We are pleased that these new summer rates will help bring down the overall cost of electricity starting in May. We also know our customers pay bills, not rates. So, as summer heats up and customers use more electricity to cool their homes, we are continuing our Customer Savings Initiative to help customers save energy, save money, and secure available energy assistance.”

While the price is dropping from winter into summer, the cost of electricity is still higher than it was a year ago by roughly $0.03 per kilowatt hour.