New Englanders Cool to Unusually High Energy Prices
SALEM, N.H.—Residents and small business owners in New England are now seeing dramatic increases in their energy bills, even before the harsh cold of winter arrives. One printing company owner reported that he had a 110% increase in his November bill compared to October. For months, utility companies across New England have been warning customers to expect sharp price increases, for which the companies blame the continuing shortage of pipeline capacity to bring natural gas to the region. Now that the higher bills are starting to arrive, many customers are finding the “sticker shock” much worse than they imagined. Because the region’s six states—Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont—have an integrated electrical grid, they all share the problem. New England already pays the highest electricity rates of any region in the 48 contiguous states because it has no fossil fuels of its own and has to import all of its oil, gas and coal. In September, residential customers in New England paid an average retail price of 17.67 cents per kWh; the national average was 12.94 cents. This is despite the fact that global oil prices have dropped to their lowest levels in years, and natural gas is cheap and plentiful from the vast underground shale reserves in nearby Pennsylvania.
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