Many New Englanders, are seeing a new charge on their electric bills this year, something labeled "Basic fair Market Value This additional fee, or true uo as they like to call it, is applied by National Grid" when the customer has opted to switch to a new electricity supplier, in order to received better rates. This "tue up" is a back-charge on month(s) customer's have already paid. It is explained by National Grid as such; "Customers receiving Standard Basic Service under the Fixed Price Option who leave Standard Basic Service to receive Generation Service from a Competitive Supplier shall be subject to a billing adjustment for the time they were billed under the Fixed Price Option during the last applicable pricing period. Specifically, the billing adjustment shall be based on the difference between the rate under the Fixed Price Option for the last applicable pricing period during which the Customer was on Standard Basic Service and the monthly rates under the Variable Price Option for the same period, multiplied by the Customer's kilowatt-hour usage during the same period. The billing adjustment can be either a charge or a credit, depending upon the rates in effect at the time." These rates can differ from residential to commercial, but both parties are subject to this "Fair market value" Adj when they switch to their new supplier.
The recent law that enables consumers to purchase energy on the open market, from a supplier of their choosing, is being loop-holed into a COST for consumers by National Grid. Now this consumer free market, is not so free. This tariff backs the public into a corner, with little choice of cost savings, and penalties for opting out of National Grid. We, as consumers, would like to appeal to our lawmakers, and specifically the RI Public Utlilities Commission who passed this ruling with only National Grid's corporate interests in mind, and unbeknownst to the general public, to overturn this egregious decision.
