Latest news with #MassachusettsDepartmentofPublicUtilities
Boston Globe
10-03-2025
- Business
- Boston Globe
Millions of Mass. electric customers to get $50 credit on April bills, Healey says
In materials and a press release touting After the $125 million is used to cover the credits, state officials said, there would be about $24 million in ACP funds that remain uncommitted. Advertisement "We need urgent action to bring down costs — and a plan to make sure price spikes don't keep happening to our residents," Healey said in a statement. The governor was scheduled to appear at a news conference in Lowell on Monday, when she was expected to lay out other ways the state could seek to lower costs, perhaps by billions of dollars over several years. 'We will use every tool we have to help make sure families and businesses can afford to heat their homes and keep the lights on,' Healey said. The Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities The outcry over bills this winter, exacerbated by a colder January than last year, prompted the state's largest utilities, National Grid and Eversource, to Advertisement The state Department of Public Utilities then trimmed $500 million from the three-year budget for the state's Mass Save program, which is funded by a surcharge on gas and electric bills. With the cut to the Mass Save budget, the gas companies may not need to defer the costs for residential customers, and Healey administration officials said Monday they 'likely' will not be, saying the savings will total $95 million for customers. Healey last month State officials said they would pursue other potential changes, including ways residents can more easily take advantage of rates to lower costs for heat pumps. Healey's office said that the DPU would 'also work to provide' discount rates for moderate-income customers and tiered discount rates for low-income customers, though what exactly those would look like, or Healey's office said that the DPU is looking at 'potential regulations' to address so-called Last year, it appeared the Legislature could take steps to ban third-party suppliers from selling directly to consumers, but the effort died after lawmakers did not include the language in a Advertisement Business leaders and others praised Healey's moves in various statements released by her office Monday. 'These efforts will put money back in people's pockets so they can get ahead of their bills and strengthen their families,' said Sharon Scott-Chandler, president of Action for Boston Community Development. This is a developing story and will be updated. Matt Stout can be reached at
CBS News
28-02-2025
- Business
- CBS News
Mass. DPU cuts Mass Save budget by $500 million to reduce heating bills
The Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities slashed the Mass Save budget by $500 million in an order put out Friday afternoon. What is Mass Save? Mass Save is a state program that gives consumers rebates for making energy efficient repairs to their homes – like insulation, heat pumps, and energy efficient appliances. The program has historically not been taken advantage of by renters and landlords – an issue the current 2025-2027 plan aims to change. Given the stress statewide over skyrocketing heating bills in recent months, the proposed $5 billion three year Mass Save program – its most expensive yet – was in jeopardy. That's because Mass Save is paid for through an "energy efficiency" charge on your electric bill or baked into the delivery fee on your gas bill. It's not the only reason by any means, but it is one factor in why your bill costs so much. For that reason, the DPU cut $500 million of the budget Friday. The DPU stated in its order, "[t]he responsibility of weighing the bill impacts of these Three‑Year Plans rests squarely with the Department and we take our responsibility as the stewards of ratepayer funds seriously." Cuts expected to lower gas bills Utilities will now have to reduce their budgets accordingly, which is expected to lower your bill. In time, the companies are also expected to add an energy efficiency cost line to gas bills – so customers can see the exact amount they are paying into the program. "The reduction from the DPU for the Mass Save 2025-2027 Plan would lower total residential program budgets by 25% for gas and 15% for electric," the release reads. "The decrease will vary by utility provider, as the utilities must work together to reduce the total budget of Mass Save. Each utility budgets for their own programs that are then collectively proposed in the total budget for the Three-Year Plan." Major components of the proposed plan -- including creating equity communities and benefiting renters – will remain in place, the DPU says. A copy of the entire order can be found here. Climate Activist and Executive Director for the Boston Climate Action Network Hessann Farooqi says the program has been a success, but he believes that a payment strategy needs to change long term for it to continue to succeed. "If we are reducing costs in way that can save our families money on energy bills that's one thing," he said. "The utilities are not the best entity to run [Mass Save] because if you are a company that makes money by building gas pipes… You are not going to have any incentive to get people off gas," which is one of the sustainability goals of Mass Save. In addition, the DPU approved plans by utility companies Friday to reduce remaining winter bills by 7%-16% with the costs to be made up interest free over the course of the spring and summer. For some – that's not good enough. "We do not want layaway; we want affordable energy. We don't want to space these expensive six months out," said Elijah DeSousa, the founder of the Facebook group Citizens Against Eversource. "It's a net zero game. The only thing [the companies are] trying to do is keep face." Statement from Gov. Maura Healey "High costs are impacting everyone right now, and the spike in gas prices is unacceptable. That is why I demanded that the DPU and utilities take immediate action to lower bills. The DPU's actions today mean that people will see about 10% in savings on their March and April gas bill. The $500 million reduction in the Mass Save budget will mean real savings for people, while ensuring the vital money savings from energy efficiency can move forward. We also know this is not enough. We need urgent action to continue to bring down costs and prevent these price spikes from happening again. That's why I will be launching an energy affordability agenda – including through executive actions and legislation – in the days and weeks ahead."
Yahoo
27-01-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Maine delays to CMP project drove up costs by more than $500M, Massachusetts regulators say
Jan. 27—Political and legal disputes in Maine that delayed construction of the New England Clean Energy Connect transmission line will add more than $500 million to Massachusetts ratepayers' bills, Bay State regulators said Monday. The Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities announced a settlement between utilities, the Massachusetts attorney general and Department of Energy Resources, and Central Maine Power, a subsidiary of Avangrid Inc., which is the operator of NECEC. The settlement approves higher costs brought on by project delays and does not include legal fees related to the challenges. Advocates say the NECEC contract will reduce overall rates because a new source of electricity being delivered to the region will bring down the market price. Electric customers can expect to save about $18 to $20 a year over 20 years, Massachusetts said. The NECEC project will reduce average electric costs by $1.52 a month for Eversource and National Grid residential customers and $1.63 for Unitil ratepayers. The Massachusetts order does not extend to Maine ratepayers. NECEC will transmit 1,200 megawatts of Canadian hydroelectricity to the New England grid over 20 years, enough to power more than 1 million homes. Maine voters in November 2021 rejected the 145-mile transmission line through the western part of the state. In court battles that followed, NECEC's backers said the project had established a right to continue construction. A Cumberland County jury decided in April 2023 that the project may resume. The project's developer, Avangrid, resumed construction in October 2023 — nearly two years after voters pulled the plug on it. More than 34% of construction is completed, and the project is expected to come online in 2026, Massachusetts officials said. Regulators said increased costs are related to construction delays brought on by the voter initiative, and the settlement will permit the utilities to bill increased costs to ratepayers. Costs paid by NECEC — demonstrated by analyses, cost projections, contracts and invoices — provide "sufficient basis" showing that an increase of $521 million, in 2017 dollars, is based on costs directly associated with the voter initiative, regulators said. Accounting for inflation, the $521 million in purchasing power now would be $677 million. "As a result, NECEC incurred significant unanticipated costs," Massachusetts regulators said. The utilities and NECEC began in January 2023 negotiating the transmission project's "alleged economic losses" due to construction delays, regulators said. Massachusetts regulators said the utilities showed that the cost for energy and environmental benefits in the power purchase agreements is less by nearly $4 billion than the forecasted market prices over 20 years. In addition, regulators said "significant qualitative benefits will flow to customers" in reliability, mitigated environmental impacts and economic development. Regulators "ultimately found that the power purchase agreements are a cost-effective mechanism for procuring low-cost renewable energy on a long-term basis," the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities said. The total cost that may be recovered from ratepayers is $1.4 billion over 20 years, regulators said. Copy the Story Link
