On Tuesday, May 26 the Rhode Island Public Utilities Commission approved a number of open dockets filed by the Block Island Power Company. Included among them was BIPCo’s full rate case filing, the proposed Demand Side Management Plan, more commonly known as an energy efficiency plan, and the request for an extended exemption from certain aspects of the Utility Restructuring Act passed in 1996 by the state of Rhode Island.
The new rates will go into effect on June 1. The PUC did not change the rates submitted by BIPCo. BIPCo. President Jeffery Wright said that “the overall revenue requirement didn’t change. I’d like to stress again that we worked really hard to maintain the same budget level.” BIPCo’s annual budget is $3.3 million.
Under the new structure, there will be three separate rates depending on time of year. Under the old rates there was an “off-season rate” that extended from October through May, with higher rates for June, July, August and September. The new structure introduces a shoulder-season rate for May, June, September and October. July and August will have the highest rates, a reflection of peak usage, and the off-season rate, from November through April will
