The Block Island Utility District, doing business as the Block Island Power Company filed a request with the R.I. Public Utilities Commission on Monday June 1, for a change in its Standard Offer and Transmission rates. (PUC Docket 4690.)
The Standard Offer and Transmission rates are just two of many components of BIPCo’s overall electric charges and are based on the company’s best guess as to what their sales will be for the coming year. Since they are estimates, they are subject to an annual reconciliation in which any underage or overage for the past year is rolled into the rate for the coming year. While a portion of the rates is what is termed “pass through” there are some fixed costs in the mix that are unavoidable.
At this point in time, BIPCo, like every other business on Block Island, is set for a summer in which business is not as usual. Like other businesses, the boom in sales over the summer months drives most of their revenues and cash flow for the year.
Based on their experience in May, in which delivery of power was down 23 percent from last year, the company is projecting losses
