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Overcast Zap! Rockville Centre's Electric Department asks for nearly 17% more
Rockville Centre officials have submitted a petition to the New York State Public Service Commission for an electricity rate increase of nearly 17 percent, which, if approved, would be the first increase in eight years, according to Village Comptroller Michael Schussheim.
The average residential customer spent $1,070 for electricity this past fiscal year, Schussheim said, and the rate increase, which would be implemented after Sept. 29, would mean an addition of just under $200.
The last increase in electricity rates for the village was implemented in June 2004, Schussheim said, and the current proposal is necessary to cover increases in costs for things like health insurance and wage increases for Electric Department employees. “The rates that were approved eight years ago are not sufficient,” he said.
The 2004 rate increase was enacted after the installation of a substation at the Electric Department on Maple Avenue and technical improvements to the distribution system. At the time, electricity rates had not risen for nearly a decade.
Mayor Francis Murray said during his State of the Village address at a Board of Trustees meeting on Feb. 13 that the village filed a rate increase request with the Public Service Commission in October. Village Spokesman Jeff Kluewer said that village officials anticipate that the increase cannot be implemented until after June 1, when the new fiscal year begins.
“But even with an increase, Rockville Centre rates will remain substantially lower than LIPA’s,” Murray said. “In November 2011, the last month for which we have statistics, Rockville Centre residential customers paid rates more than 46 percent lower than LIPA’s.”
James Denn, the Public Service Commission’s public information officer, said that any rate increase, if approved, would not be implemented until after Sept. 29. Denn added that the PSC welcomes any comments from residents on the proposed increase. A comment form can be found at the website www.askpsc.com.
