Photo: Jay Willett/WBZ NewsRadio
FALL RIVER, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — A natural gas supplier for most of Bristol County is looking to raise prices, despite disappointment from some locals.
Liberty Utilities has proposed a distribution rate increase to make up costs and generate about $55 million in revenue.
The new rate, however, would cause a roughly 55 percent rate increase on average for gas customers next year. This rate could jump up to 90 percent at the turn of the decade, according to Fall River Mayor Paul Coogan.
“Our income mocks all below the state average. At the same time, it’s a hardworking community with good people, and at the same time, Liberty has been a good neighbor to Fall River, but on this one, I don’t agree with them at all,” said Coogan.
Liberty Utilities says the increase helps compensate costs for work like pipe replacement, but Coogan said it’s all just too much at one time, especially after a ten-year partnership.
“To come in... and say, ‘we never asked for a rate increase and then we’re going to hit you all at once,’ I just think that’s the wrong way to handle it,” said Coogan. “I would’ve much rather seen them go one percent a year, for a number of years to get to that point.”
A request was made by Liberty Utilities to the Department of Public Utilities, asking to implement a performance-based rate matching program, adjusting customers' rates monthly.
WBZ NewsRadio’s Jay Willett (@JayWillettWBZ) reports.