Politics & Government

O&R Requests Rate Hike

Orange and Rockland Utilities filed a request with the New York State Public Service Commission requesting a rate hike that would take effect July 1, 2012. O&R was just granted a request to raise its base rate in June.

Orange and Rockland Utilities, Inc. requesting a rate hike after one was approved in mid-June.

O&R filed a request Friday with the New York State Public Service Commission (NYSPCS) to increase its electric base rates effective July 1, 2012, when the utility company's current plan expires.

The raise that was approved in June runs through June 30, 2012 and it increased the monthly costs for the average residential customer by approximately 2.2 percent, which is about $3. That increase was less than O&R had asked for.

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The new request would increase customer costs 3.2 percent, which is an average of about $3.78 per month for the typical customer, according to a release from O&R.

The proposal from O&R also includes a three-year electric rate plan establishing plans through the end of June 2015.

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"The recent record-breaking heat wave and the successful operation of the O&R electric system illustrated that the investments we have made in system capacity and reliability improvements have resulted in the high quality of service that our customers expect," said O&R President and CEO Bill Longhi. "Despite the tremendous strain that the exceptional electric demand exerted on the system, we managed cutomers' electrical use effectively, experienced relatively few heat-related outages and ordered no voltage reductions."

The total increase O&R is requesting comes to $17.7 million. According to O&R, the company is expecting increased operational costs of $27 million, some of which will be offset in other areas.

Part of the increase in operational costs is due to construction projects designed to improve electrical services, such as the new substation in Orangetown and projects in Clarkstown and West Nyack.


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