National Grid customers should get some relief from their next energy bill, after prices skyrocketed during a frigid winter because supply costs for electricity ticked down slightly.
The company says customers can expect their next electric bills to be 40 percent cheaper than the month before.
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.
National Grid spokeswoman Virginia Limmiatis says it’s been hard over the past few winters to guess supply costs.
"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 customer can expect."
Limmiatis says 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.
