RG&E must cut cost of electricity to fixed-rate customers
Posted by CITIZEN POWER ALLIANCE at 11:24 AMALBANY — State utility regulators ordered Rochester Gas and Electric Corp. on Wednesday to cut the cost of electricity to thousands of customers who pay a fixed amount for power.
Savings for the average affected ratepayer will be $9.60 a month, or almost 13 percent, with a payment of $65.24 instead of $74.84.
The order affects the 28 percent of RG&E customers who subscribe to the utility's fixed-rate billing plan under the Voice Your Choice program. The majority of RG&E's customers are in the variable-rate plan, either by choice or because they didn't respond to the annual Voice Your Choice campaign.
The state Public Service Commission decided RG&E should've been marking up the cost of power by 22 percent so far this year instead of the 35 percent it has been charging.
The change will bring the prices in line with those of the customers of RG&E's sister utility, New York State Electric and Gas Corp.
PSC aide Chad Hume estimated the reduction will cut RG&E's profits in half on such accounts.
RG&E could not be reached for comment.
The utility's variable-rate customers, whose payments fluctuate with market prices, have generally paid slightly less than fixed-rate customers for the past three years.