Tallahassee plans rate drop in October

With fuel prices dropping somewhat, the city of Tallahassee, Florida, announced plans to reduce its electricity rates starting Saturday, October 1, according to Tallahassee.com.

The electricity prices will drop across the board, though business customers can expect to see a larger decrease than residential customers. Residential electricity rates will fall 2 percent, while business rates will drop between 2.9 percent and 3.4 percent depending on the size of the company and its electricity usage, with larger companies seeing a larger dip.

"Having recently met with a group of small business owners, I know this comes as welcome news as they continue to endure a difficult economy," City Commissioner Andrew Gillum, lead commissioner on the City's Financial Viability of the Government target issue committee, told WCTV. "The City needs to find more ways to help the business community in these trying times."

Commercial and industrial customers already pay somewhat less than residential customers, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, averaging prices of 10.02 cents, 8.97 cents and 11.69 cents per kilowatt-hour through June of this year, respectively. With the 2 percent decline, residents will pay 11.46 cents per kilowatt-hour, leading to anticipated savings of $2.44 per person per month according to the city's estimates.