NSTAR Utility Rates

[laklare.livejournal.com]

From looking at NSTAR's recent press releases, I assumed that electric rates would be going down starting Jan 1st. However, just the opposite has happened.

I live in Somerville (Davis Sq. area) and today witnessed on my bill that the transmission rate doubled, the transition rate went up, but most importantly, the basic svc fixed charged went from $0.07694/KWH to $0.1266/KWH. That's a hefty increase and amounted to nearly $40 on my electric bill.

Has anyone else observed this abrupt change in their electric bills? How can this be reconciled with the supposed "$20 million rate cut for NSTAR Electric customers" effective January 1st? Also, how can I actually get to a real human being on NSTAR's phone system? I've tried several times and each time I get "heavy call volumes, call back later". The automated call back option isn't even coming up. Perhaps they are being overwhelmed by people like me who are wondering what's up with their electric bill?

Comments

[talonvaki.livejournal.com]

I haven't noticed...yet. I'm on the monthly budget plan, where my bill is equalised over 12 months.

So if my rates have gone up, I'll feel it in September.

[uberjay.livejournal.com]

Also, watch out if you use their electronic bill paying system. I got the following via my electronic mail today:

Dear OVERCHARGED NSTAR CUSTOMER,

Due to a recent technical error, your January NSTAR e-Bill was not
delivered to your online bill payment service. We have now corrected
the issue that caused this delay, and your e-Bill was delivered on
February 1, 2006. Please schedule a payment for this e-Bill as soon as
possible if you have not already done so. If you use the automatic
payment feature of your online bill payment service, please verify
that your automatic payment was processed successfully, and schedule a
one-time payment online if it was not.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. If you have
any questions or concerns regarding this issue, please contact our
customer care department at 800-592-2000. Thank you for your patience
and understanding.

NSTAR Online Billing Team

---

The bill I got in February was identical to my previous bill, down to the due date which still read "1/16/2006".

I really want to get my bill to see if the programmable thermostat made a noticeable difference.

[laklare.livejournal.com]

I've been using their ebill system instead of that mycheckfree hack they used to use. The ebill thing is pretty good (shows your usage history and is easy to navigate) and I didn't get any kind of double-charge. However, I did notice an email come in with duplicate charges on mycheckfree. I ignored it, but I never got that duplicate charge notice that you're talking about.

[signsoflife.livejournal.com]

I had the automatic debit from my checking account, and I got the same error notice reported above. I don't know that this relates to the increase in charge per kw/hr, though.

[arcanology.livejournal.com]

I got a duplicate ebill that I had already paid, so don't just pay it if you get another.

[sophiaserpentia.livejournal.com]

We noted a similar increase in our bill for electricity in Watertown.

[sonofabish.livejournal.com]

Funny, I just looked at my bill 5 minutes ago and noticed that despite our electic usage decreasing by 10% over last month, our bill increased 15%, effectively fucking us up the ass. In fact, I think that's NStar's slogan.

[hammercock.livejournal.com]

...effectively fucking us up the ass. In fact, I think that's NStar's slogan.

They're awfully good at that. I think they ought at least to buy us dinner first.

[cos]

Forget dinner, I think we should move to having publicly-owned municipal utilities, which pretty much always give more reliable service at a lower cost than private utilities.

Too bad everyone says "I don't care about politics", so it's unlikely to happen. *only semi-bitter*

[androidqueen.livejournal.com]

at the risk of turning this into a political discussion, could you cite some examples? (i'm not declaring myself for or against -- just trying to get information.)

[turil.livejournal.com]

Well, there's the whole profit company vs. non-profit company that makes a load of difference when the bill comes...

[nathanjw]

Belmont has its own power utility (or rather, unlike most other towns around here, it still has one).

http://www.town.belmont.ma.us/Public_Documents/BelmontMA_Light/index

[simonbillenness.livejournal.com]

Yes. That is its slogan.

"Nstar: fucking up you up the ass since 1912."

[sonofabish.livejournal.com]

Now that would be truth in advertising.

[lidiya6.livejournal.com]

My electricity went from about $35 to about $47.

I am confused by the online billing - I got a message yesterday that my jan & feb bills were due, so I tried to pay it (along w/ the feb one) but I could have sworn that I already had. I looked on my account and it was marked paid. I think what happened is, instead of waiting for the bill to arrive, in mid january I just logged in and paid it. I am using the mycheckfree thing.

Good news is that my gas bill went from 200 to 170-something for dec. vs jan usage (jan and feb bills respectively)

I thought Jan and feb were going to be the highest months.

[laklare.livejournal.com]

Yeah, my bills are about twice those, but I get to split it 4 ways at least. Dec. has been the coldest month yet.

[out-2-lunch.livejournal.com]

My electric bill almost doubled from December to January. It was pretty shocking. I couldn't even pay the entire thing all at once.

[rxrfrx.livejournal.com]

Same thing, and I really don't understand. My previous bill said "this reflects the updated 2006 basic rate" but then the rate changed from that one to the most recent one. The whole point of basic rate is that it's the same every month. wtf

[la-ti-da.livejournal.com]

also, i was comparing my gas bills to last years, and they've almost doubled. keeping in mind this year has been a lot warmer. i don't still have the bills so it's hard for me to see how much of this is due to usage vs. rates, but is this normal?

[jennyelfenmass.livejournal.com]

with NStar, you can look up your bills online. Rather usefull actually, they even have a graph!

[xjustquietx.livejournal.com]

I can't believe I never noticed this. Thank you!

[dominika-kretek.livejournal.com]

I seem to remember some notice somewhere that said basically that rates were going up in January, because energy costs are going up everywhere, so hold on to your hats. You thought you were going to escape the punishment that people with gas and oil heat were already experiencing, but you were wrong. Okay, it didn't really say that last part.

I haven't gotten my January bill yet, so I can't say.

[siderea]

My latest NStar electric bill was kinda breathtaking, but I'd have to dig it up to get the details.

[knowthyself.livejournal.com]

I haven't calculated percentages, but ours for Dec. & then Jan. have nearly doubled, and I was shocked by this as well. Gas, I kind of expected to be getting pricier all things considered, the electricity one was a shocker though. Has anyone had luck finding out what the deal is?

[laklare.livejournal.com]

I called them today and actually got a human being finally. These are the new rates until June when they may again be reevaluated. The operator told me they went up in response to Katrina and energy shortages, which have long delays before reaching the consumer.

[knowthyself.livejournal.com]

Thanks! Did she happen to say anything about how this contradicts that press release about rates being cut, supposedly right away?

[laklare.livejournal.com]

Yes. The rates were going to go up even higher before the state got involved.