PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — PECO customers can expect an increase in their electric bills at the start of the New Year.
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The typical residential customer will see an increase of approximately $6.66 per month, which is about 6.6%, beginning Jan. 1.
For customers with small businesses or commercial properties, there will be an increase of approximately $25 a month, or around 3%.
On Thursday, the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) approved PECO’s filed settlement agreement for a $132 million increase in electric distribution rates.
“It supports a series of investments to support our customers, and that includes investments to make the local energy grid stronger and more resilient to better withstand extreme weather and prevent outages,” said PECO spokesperson Greg Smore.
“It also supports the advancement of clean energy technologies — specifically, electric vehicles — and it also supports bill relief and expanded assistance for low-income customers.”
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Smore said there are resources available for customers who may be impacted by the bill hike.
“There’s a lot of things that you can do to help manage your energy bills, and then also making sure that folks are aware that we have a lot of different bill relief options and assistance programs to help customers make ends meet,” he added.
Smore said customers can make new payment plans to help spread balances out over 24 months.
As a general rule of thumb, he also advised using energy wisely, especially as we enter the winter months.
“We want to make sure that our customers know that there are resources available to them and they can find out more information by going to peco.com/help.”