Nstar Residential Default Service Rate to Increase 60% to 15¢

Nstar said that it has filed new basic service rates with the Massachusetts DPU for the six-month period beginning January 1, 2015, with the new residential basic service rate increasing to nearly 15¢/kWh.

The supply charge for all Nstar residential customers on the company's Basic Service supply option would increase to 14.972 cents per kilowatt-hour, Nstar said.

Customers of the former Boston Edison Company using 500 kilowatt-hours per month would see their bill increase from $95.45 to $123.41, or about 29 percent; customers of the former Commonwealth Electric territory would see an increase from $100.77 to $128.73, or about 28 percent; and those of the former Cambridge Electric Company would see an increase from $91.81 to $119.77, or about 30 percent.

Complete rate information, including the monthly rate option and rates for C&I customers, were not immediately available.

"The current spike in electricity prices stems from widely publicized constraints in the existing pipelines that bring natural gas to regional generating companies," Nstar said.