PECO is seeking an increase in the rate it charges customers for the delivery of electricity to pay for ongoing projects to modernize and weatherize its local electric infrastructure.
The company is asking the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) to approve the $190 million rate request by hiking delivery rates about 4.4 percent beginning Jan. 1, 2016. Specifically, the total monthly bill for a typical residential electric customer using about 700 kilowatt hours of electricity would increase about $6.55, PECO said. Bills for a typical small business customer would increase by about $27.72 per month, and monthly bills for a typical large customer would increase by $847.57.
The rate hike would help fund at least $300 million of ongoing system work each year, including replacing equipment and upgrading infrastructure to continue to provide safe and reliable service to customers, PECO said. In addition, $275 million will be spent during the next five years to install advanced equipment on the local system to make it less vulnerable to storm damage, the company said.
Any charges related to the additional System 2020 work would be submitted for subsequent review by the PUC.