MERRIMAC — Board of Light Commissioners Chair Paula Hamel is pleased to announce that the Commissioners and the Merrimac Municipal Light Department have begun work to reduce customers’ electric rates in the coming months.
Following an upgrade to its credit rating to “A+ Stable” by Standard & Poor’s, the Board of Light Commissioners is confident in the Department’s ability to implement and sustain a rate decrease for years to come. The improved credit rating means that the Department can secure a lower interest rate on bonds, reducing the cost to customers.
“Thanks to our commitment to long-term planning, responsible power production purchases and rate stabilization, we are now able to examine and implement a rate reduction that will benefit all of the Light Department’s customers,” Hamel said. “We are very pleased to be in a position in which we are able to reduce rates.”
The Commission voted to approve a reduction in electric rates at its meeting on Wednesday, April 14, and Commissioners and staff are currently evaluating scenarios that would allow for a rate reduction of 5 to 10 percent.
Under the current rate structure, Merrimac residential customers who use 500 kilowatt-hours per month pay 30 percent less than similar customers served by an investor-owned facility in surrounding cities and towns.
“The combination of a well-maintained infrastructure and a financially strong organization has our department well positioned to provide reliable electric service at competitive rates well into the future,” Hamel said.