Expensive electric bills during the winter are nothing new in the Northeast, but residents across Massachusetts say they’re really feeling the burn this season – all just to keep the heat going. It’s enough to get state and local officials to call out utility companies as well as regulators who approved some of the most recent rate hikes.
For the past few months, from Facebook groups to town-specific forums on Reddit, residents have been sharing photos of their gas and electric bills. Most share a common theme – a significant spike compared to their bills in December
It’s spurred an outcry captured by local media and has also bubbled up in city and town halls.
During a Springfield City Council meeting last week, discussions on approving several small Eversource-related projects went on a tangent, when Ward 4 Councilor Malo Brown brought up the idea of Springfield exploring a return to having a local power company – something neighboring cities like Chicopee and Holyoke maintain, with smaller power bills that go with them.
“Me and all my colleagues would love to meet Eversource - I think you'll have the whole community here questioning the influx of pricing…” Brown said, asking Springfield DPW Director Chris Cignoli how to go about scheduling a meeting with Eversource officials. “When you look at this big company who now are supposed to be better than these little cities and their prices are lower- I think they have to answer some questions.”
A day later on February 11 in neighboring West Springfield, Mayor Will Reichelt submitted a resolution to town councilors, requesting state lawmakers and the Department of Public Utilities “investigate the recent and significant increases in gas and electricity rates charged by Eversource.”
It passed as a joint resolution this week, with Council President Sean Powers calling rate hikes previously passed by the DPU “deplorable.”
Last fall, Eversource and other natural gas providers had steep rate increases approved heading into November. For Eversource, that meant increases of 25-30 percent for natural gas customers and 11-13 percent for National Grid, as reported at the time by outlets like the Boston Globe.
Reichelt tells WAMC while the resolution may feel like “window dressing,” something has to be done, especially as he and others continue to hear from locals.
“We had a significant number of residents reach out, whether that be through calling the office or social media or contacting me when I'm out and about in the community, saying their bills are absurd,” the mayor said. “Their delivery charges are crazy – the delivery charges are more than their actual bill, and we've had a much colder winter this year than we had in the past couple years and they wonder what we can do about it. Locally, it's work, service by Eversource, so unlike Holyoke, Chicopee [and] Westfield, that have their own munis (municipally-owned electric companies), that provide power at much better rates than Eversource does, there's not much we can do.”
The mayor adds that while well-meaning, the state’s efforts to decarbonize the grid, moving away from natural gas use, isn’t helping bring down prices for those still relying on it for heating and electricity.
However, he adds, reports of Eversource generating $800 million in profit in 2024 also raise questions.
The issue, particularly the fall rate hikes, have now come to a head on the state level, as well.
Also hearing from constituents for weeks, Hampden, Hampshire and Worcester State Senator Jake Oliveira says their concerns led to him and dozens of lawmakers signing onto a letter calling on the DPU to reassess the rate increases.
The letter claims a number of residents face around a 27 percent increase in costs this heating season – a matter Governor Maura Healey is also now weighing in on.
“… that drove me and my colleagues to come together and really, call on the Department of Public Utilities to take another look at the rate increases that they approved,” The Ludlow Democrat said in a phone interview. “In the last couple of days, seeing Governor Healy also going on record, sending her own letter to the Department of Public Utilities regarding gas rates - which are connected and tied to the electric rates, and much of our electric is produced by natural gas, Spikes in natural gas costs directly impact the cost of delivery of electricity to the residents of the Commonwealth – so, I’m glad to see this is not just a bipartisan effort, but also something that the Governor and the legislature agree - that the DPU needs to take a closer look at these rate increases to provide relief to residents of the Commonwealth."
Oliveira adds that sending letters to the DPU requesting revisits isn’t uncommon – it’s practically a yearly request.
Still, he says when municipally-owned electric companies boast significantly lower consumer costs, what’s being asked of consumers serviced by investor-owned companies amounts to too much for some.
“It's coming to a point where it's completely out of control - when you look at the private industry, you look at the Eversources, the National Grids, the Unitils, and you see profit margins, especially on the gas side, of close to 30 percent last quarter, even though that, they say that it's a 10 percent profit margin on the delivery of electricity - that's going on the backs of the residents of the Commonwealth,” he said. “That's going on the backs of the people who are paying these rates, and when you compare those rate increases with the municipal light and power companies that are a public resource, that are something that's managed in a quasi-public manner, but is something that provides the delivery of electricity to two of my communities (South Hadley and Chicopee), and the other ten communities in my district are seeing double digit rate increases on electric bills that are already double the cost of the municipal light and electric … DPU needs to take a look at that and see what we can learn from our municipal light and power plants.”
According to at least one of the letter’s supporters, State Representative Mike Connolly of the 26th Middlesex District on the other side of the state, the DPU has indicated it will be taking actions to try and bring "economic relief" to customers. WAMC has reached out to DPU for comment.
As for Eversource, a spokesperson for the company reiterated it’s been a cold winter and customers are using more natural gas to heat their homes and businesses as a result. In a statement, the spokesperson says energy affordability is a “top priority” and the company is willing to work with regulators and elected officials.
The statement reads in-part:
“The adjustment to natural gas rates for our customers in Massachusetts that took effect on Nov. 1 reflected a variety of factors including the cost of natural gas on the supply side of the bill and – on the delivery side – our significant investments in safety and reliability projects to strengthen and improve service for our customers, and growth in energy efficiency programs and services available to help customers better manage their energy use and to help advance decarbonization goals.
For NSTAR gas customers, energy efficiency represented about 60% of the Nov. 1 rate adjustment and investments in the distribution infrastructure represented about 7%. For EGMA (former Columbia Gas) customers, energy efficiency programs represented about a quarter of the rate adjustment, and significant system investments to improve safety and reliability of the former Columbia Gas system that were required as part of the transaction agreement approved by the state represented about 40% (The former Columbia Gas system has required significant upgrades to bring the system up to standards and ensure safe, reliable service for customers).
Additionally, the total increase includes supply costs, which are vulnerable to market forces and typically increase during the winter months, fluctuating year-to-year based on market conditions and weather. In total, the rate adjustments that took place on Nov. 1 represented an approximately 23% increase on the total bill for NSTAR residential heating customers and a 29.5% increase for EGMA residential heating customers compared to last winter.
He also added rates did not significantly change between November and January and that January was at least 15 percent colder than the month before and 10 percent colder than January 2024.
Regardless, he says, Eversource realizes the challenge high energy costs pose to residents and that the company encourages customers to “take advantage of the many assistance programs available” as well as webinars/info sessions Eversource will be holding both online and in-person.
