Unitil has proposed to raise the Electric rates. Deadline Oct 18th to submit comments. See below for the full text, and related documents i downloaded from the DPU page.
(ir al final para la traducción al español)
------>Here is my synopsis of all this legalese:
1. Unitil is asking the Dept of Public Utilities to raise electric rates from 12/21 to 5/22. Their first proposal would have raised the rates approx 38% ($68/month) for the average customer.
2. The MA Atty General negotiated with Unitil to lower the rates for basic service: small/medium customers. The AGO notes the basic service rates are: “dramatically higher than its current rates and are also significantly higher than its rates for last winter.”
The AGO proposes a one-time deferral of 50% of the increase associated with the proposed Basic Service rate charge over last winter’s charge.
This increase, as the AGO acknowledges in its comments, is largely attributable to the fact that Unitil procured 100% of its basic service load for the upcoming six-month period due to uncertainty regarding the implementation of Fitchburg’s pending municipal aggregation proposal.
3. Unitil proposed a new rate structure for those basic service groups. "a fixed basic service rate of $0.15650 / kWh"
However, "unrecovered costs" will be assessed via a "basic service adjustment charge" from 6/22 through 12/22.
( The Company estimates the "unrecovered costs" to be approximately $3.2 million)
4. Written comments on this *must* be filed with the DPU no later than 5:00 p.m. on Monday, October 18, 2021
--->Email: henry.d.kahn@mass.gov
--->Format: Comments must be in a .pdf attached document
--->Must have the docket number: D.P.U. 21-BSF-A4
--->Must have a brief descriptive title of the attachment.
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DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC UTILITIES
NOTICE OF FILING AND REQUEST FOR COMMENTS
D.P.U. 21-BSF-A4 October 8, 2021
Petition of Fitchburg Gas and Electric Light Company d/b/a Unitil for approval of Basic Service rates for December 1, 2021 through May 31, 2022, for its small and medium customer groups.
On October 1, 2021, pursuant to Pricing and Procurement of Default Service, D.T.E. 99-60-B (2000), Default Service Procurement, D.T.E. 02-40-C (2003), and G.L. c. 164, § 1B(d), Fitchburg Gas and Electric Light Company d/b/a Unitil (“Unitil” or “Company”)
requested that the Department of Public Utilities (“Department”) approve the results of the Company’s most recent basic service supply solicitation for December 1, 2021 through May 31,
2022, for its small and medium customer groups. The Department docketed this matter as D.P.U. 21-BSF-A4.
Through this solicitation, the Company sought to procure 100 percent of the basic service load requirements for its small customer (including residential customers) and medium customer
groups for the six-month period beginning December 1, 2021; this approach is a departure from the procurement method approved by the Department in D.T.E. 99-60-B where distribution companies must procure their load requirements through two overlapping twelve-month procurements, each for 50 percent of the load requirements.
The Company also seeks approval of basic service rates designed to collect the costs associated with providing basic service supply under this solicitation. The proposed fixed basic service rate for residential and small commercial and industrial customers is $0.19880 per kilowatt hour (“kWh”). If the Department approves the Company’s basic service rates as proposed, a typical residential (R-1) customer using 600 kWh per month will see an average monthly bill increase of $61.96 (or 37.9 percent). For specific bill impacts, please contact the Company as shown below.
On October 6, 2021, the Attorney General of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (“Attorney General”) submitted comments with a proposal to mitigate the rate impact of Unitil’s basic service solicitation for small and medium customer groups.
On October 8, 2021, Unitil submitted, after consultation with the Attorney General, an alternative proposal designed to lower the rate charged to the Company’s basic service customers for the upcoming basic service pricing period.
The Company represents that the Attorney General supports the Company’s October 8, 2021 proposal. Under the October 8, 2021 proposal, unrecovered costs would be collected through the Company’s basic service adjustment charge from all distribution customers over the period of June 1, 2022 through December 31, 2022.
The Department seeks written comments addressing the mitigation proposal submitted by the Company on October 8, 2021. The Department encourages interested stakeholders to provide joint comments on the October 8, 2021 proposal, as well as other possible means to mitigate the effect on customers of the proposed basic service rate increase. The Company is required to provide 30-days notice of changes in the basic service rate. M.D.P.U. No. 282.
Therefore, written comments must be filed with the Department no later than 5:00 p.m. on Monday, October 18, 2021. To the extent a person or entity wishes to submit comments in accordance with this Notice, electronic submission, as detailed below, is sufficient.
All comments must be submitted to the Department in .pdf format by e-mail attachment to dpu.efiling@mass.gov and henry.d.kahn@mass.gov. The text of the e-mail must specify:
(1) the docket number of the proceeding (D.P.U. 21-BSF-A4); (2) the name of the person or company submitting the filing; and (3) a brief descriptive title of the document. The electronic file name should identify the document but should not exceed 50 characters in length. Importantly, all large files submitted must be broken down into electronic files that do not exceed 20 MB.
Ordinarily, all parties would follow Sections B.1 and B.4 of the Department’s Standard Ground Rules (D.P.U. 15-184-A, App. 1 (March 4, 2020)) regarding the filing of documents.
However, at this time, all filings will be submitted to the Department only in electronic format, consistent with the Department’s June 15, 2021 Memorandum addressing continued modified filing requirements. Until further notice, parties must retain the original paper version of the filing and the Department will later determine when the paper version must be filed with the
Department Secretary.
At this time, a paper copy of the filing will not be available for public viewing at the Company’s offices or the Department. The filing and other documents submitted in electronic format will be posted as soon as practicable at on the Department’s website through our online File Room at: https://eeaonline.eea.state.ma.us/.../dockets/bynumber (enter “21-BSF-A4”). To request materials in accessible formats for people with disabilities (Braille,large print, electronic files, audio format), contact the Department’s ADA coordinator at DPUADACoordinator@mass.gov.
Any person desiring further information regarding the Company’s filing should contact Counsel for Unitil, Gary Epler, Esq., at epler@unitil.com. Any person desiring further information regarding this notice may contact Henry Kahn, Hearing Officer, Department of Public Utilities, at henry.d.kahn@mass.gov.
