CITIZEN POWER ALLIANCE

New York State Electric & Gas Corp. has cut the size of the rate increase it is seeking for its electric and natural gas customers to a fraction of its original proposal.

NYSEG’s latest proposal, reached in conjunction with the State Public Service Commission’s staff, would increase electric rates by an average of $3.27 a month, or about 5 percent, during the course of the three-year agreement.

Electric rates would rise by 2.2 percent in the first year, followed by a 1.2 percent increase in 2012 and a 1.5 percent hike in the final year of the proposal.

NYSEG provides service to about 175,000 customers in suburban and rural portions of Western New York. NYSEG’s natural gas customers, who are primarily in portions of Niagara, Orleans and Genesee counties in Western New York, would pay about $13.61 a month more—an increase of nearly 13 percent— by the end of 2013 under the latest proposal.

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