Additional Coverage:
The Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities has sent a letter to gas companies directing them to lower gas bills for March and April by 5%. The announcement comes after Massachusetts residents received shockingly high heating bills during January and February.
Earlier this week, Gov. Maura Healey urged the DPU to “act immediately” to bring down energy bills for natural gas customers in Massachusetts.
Bills at “unsustainable levels”
In the letter to companies including Eversource Energy and National Grid on Thursday, the DPU said “The combination of increased supply costs, the recovery of unusually high programmatic costs through delivery charges, and a cold winter has driven customer bills to unsustainable levels.”
The companies need to tell the state how they will generate the savings by Monday. “These circumstances warrant immediate measures to provide relief to consumers,” the DPU said.
The utility companies will be able to recover the deferred costs during the off-peak season, May through October. The DPU also said it will investigate whether to “shift certain delivery costs from the peak period to the shoulder and summer seasons on a permanent basis.”
Last week, 22 state senators wrote to the DPU and asked it to “take immediate action to reassess” rate adjustments that were approved by the agency in the fall.
In a statement, a spokesperson for Eversource said, “We look forward to continued conversations with the Department of Public Utilities to keep affordability top-of-mind as we continue to pursue Massachusetts’ unprecedented clean energy transition in a cost-effective manner.”
Haverhill’s Brian Rowe is among the hundreds of Massachusetts residents upset about high gas bills the last two months. “In December, I paid $382 total,” said Rowe, who has National Grid. “My bill last month was $753, and now, this month it’s $851.”
Delivery fees nearly double price of gas
Elijah Desousa, who started Citizens Against Eversource, said the rate reduction is not even close to enough. “We’re getting the proverbial shaft and we’re not taking not going to take it anymore,” said Desousa.
Desousa said his gas bill has doubled over the last two months. “That’s just amazing for a government body to be so insulting to the people that they can repackage this up and think that we’re not going to see through the smokescreen,” said Desousa.
WBZ looked at two Massachusetts Eversource bills from January and February. Over $700 and $800 each, the delivery fees nearly double the price of gas itself.
WBZ’s David Wade just explained Wednesday that the state recently approved a rate hike for the delivery fee, meaning the price of gas didn’t go up, but the price to deliver it did.
Lawmaker proposes cap on rate hikes
“It’s hard to believe that the increases that they put out there, that somebody actually approved that. That’s how ridiculous they are,” said State Sen. Kelly Dooner.
Sen. Dooner has proposed a bill that would put a 3% cap on rate hikes, add savings for veterans and seniors, and roll back a number of green energy mandates that were recently implemented.
“Believe me, I’m supportive of, you know, any energy efficiency programs and Mass Save, but not when it’s on the backs of the taxpayers like it is,” Dooner said. “These fees are higher than some people’s mortgage payments.”
There is no guarantee her bill gets support, but homeowners like Brian Rowe are hopeful for anything that could move the needle. “There’s a lot of angry people and I think there’s somebody has to do something,” Rowe said.