New Hampshire utility raises electricity rates

Residential customers of Public Service of New Hampshire will see electric rates go up 5.7 percent, due to the skyrocketing prices for energy resources.

PSNH, the state's largest utility with more than 460,000 residential and commercial customers, said the higher costs of oil and natural gas are driving up wholesale power costs in New England.

The company said rates for a PSNH residential customer consuming 500 kilowatt hours of power will increase $4.39 to $81.80, an increase of 5.7 percent. The company's average retail rate will increase 6.3 percent. PSNH's new rates were approved Friday by the New Hampshire Public Utilities Commission.

PSNH's said its rates are regulated by the state and adjusted each year on Jan. 1 and, if necessary, on July 1 to reconcile actual operating costs and in anticipation of forecasted costs.

The utility is a subsidiary of Northeast Utilities.