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Some billing relief for National Grid customers after bitter winter

Ryan Delaney
/
WRVO
The Niagara Mohawk buidling in downtown Syracuse, now the regional headquarters of National Grid.

National Grid customers should get some relief from their next energy bill after prices skyrocketed during a frigid winter, thanks to supply costs for electricity ticking down slightly.

National Grid says customers can expect their next electric bills to be 40 percent cheaper than the month before. A bill for 600 kWh of energy used will drop from $130 in March to $75 in April.

That’s a reflection of cheaper than anticipated supply costs two months ago. The energy provider predicts supply costs that far ahead based on the market. February turned out to be lower than expected, so April bills will be down.

"What customers are feeling in their winter heating season bill this year is quite different from the last several years. And that’s directly related to electricity supply costs and the frigid cold temperatures of this year," said National Grid spokeswoman Virginia Limmiatis.

It’s been hard over the past few winters to guess supply costs, she said.

"You will see that the last two years have been actually unusually warm and so this year has been unusually cold," she said. "So you’ve had polar opposites in terms of the winter heating season and what customers can expect."

Limmiatis said supply rates, which are out of the company’s hands, make up half of your energy bill.

Still, the surge in energy prices this winter was enough to upset customers and cause Sen. Charles Schumer to call for an investigation into possible rate gouging.

While this energy bill will be down, Limmiatis says March supply costs were slightly up, so May bills will bump up again.