It has been a topic on the forefront of a lot of Massachusetts’ residents minds lately… energy bills being an exorbitant cost this winter. It has been reported that some energy bills are over $1000! The cost isn’t necessarily attributed to JUST the energy either…it is the delivery fee that is the main cost.
The South Shore’s Morning News wanted to look further into this, so they invited State Rep. Michelle Badger onto the show as she has been working hard on this subject lately for her constituents. Please listen to the full interview below.
Rob Hakala also reached out to Eversource for an interview and comment. They replied with this:
It is important to note that Eversource has two different natural gas service territories – NSTAR and EGMA (former Columbia Gas service territory) – and the specifics differ slightly for each. Each of those service territories has communities in Plymouth County and there are some communities that are served by a different gas utility such as National Grid. NSTAR communities include Carver, Kingston, Plymouth and most other communities are EGMA, except for Abington, Rockland, Whitman, Hingham, Middleborough and parts of Hanson.
I would also note that we’re holding an assistance event for customers in Plymouth on Wednesday, March 19, at Plymouth North High School at 6:30 p.m. More information about this and other assistance events available here: https://www.eversource.com/content/residential/about/our-company/news-room/massachusetts-news/detail/eversource-hosting-in-person-assistance-events-to-help-customers-with-natural-gas-bills
Statement on 10 percent reduction announced this week
Ensuring safe, reliable service and maintaining affordability for customers is our top priority as we work with the commonwealth to cost-effectively realize Massachusetts’ unprecedented energy transition. Following the DPU’s direction last week in the face of higher-than-normal natural gas bills to reduce delivery rates by 5 percent on the total bill, we filed a plan earlier this week that makes a 10 percent reduction to rates through the local delivery adjustment charge (LDAC) for March and April while also ensuring that we can continue to build on our collective progress in achieving the commonwealth’s clean energy goals.
This winter’s bills have posed serious challenges and concerns for our customers that reinforce the critical need to maintain affordability and reliability as top priorities in our collective pursuit of the commonwealth’s energy transition, and this filing is a positive step to support our customers with lower bills in the coming months. We will continue to work with our regulators, state officials, and other key stakeholders on efforts to provide longer-term rate relief, and we remain laser-focused on ensuring this transition occurs at a pace attainable and affordable for our customers.
If approved, customers will see this reduction in the local distribution adjustment charge on their bills, which includes energy efficiency programs, and the company will also absorb any additional carrying costs that accrue with the deferral of these costs to the off-peak, summer months.
Nov. 1 Rate Adjustment and Increased Usage
With colder temperatures recently, customers have been using more natural gas to heat their homes and businesses to stay warm. Rates did not significantly change between November and January, and the higher bills customers have recently been experiencing are primarily a result of rate adjustments that took place on Nov. 1 (following a transparent regulatory review process) and increased usage with the colder weather.
For example, usage increased by approximately 19% in January 2025 compared to January 2024 for both of Eversource’s gas service territories.
This much colder weather driving increased usage, coupled with the rate adjustments that took effect in November 2024, are the primary factors impacting customers’ current bills. How much energy a customer uses ultimately impacts both the supply and delivery portions of the bill. It’s important to note that even if customers do not raise their thermostats, more energy is used to maintain the same temperature setting in colder weather.
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.
Thanks to collaborative efforts with stakeholders to spread awareness about the benefits of these programs as well as a desire from customers to take control of their energy usage, we saw an increase in participation for these programs and services last year – specifically with respect to heat pump incentives provided to natural gas customers and the delivery of energy efficiency programs to income-eligible customers in our natural gas service territory. These efforts support our shared goals with the commonwealth to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve air quality and advance electrification while also driving bills down for customers on a daily basis as the energy that a customer never uses results in real savings. In addition, this increase incorporates projected funding needed for 2025 based on the plan we submitted and is currently under consideration with the DPU. We’re proud to support Massachusetts as a national leader in the ongoing energy transition, and the Mass Save 2025-2027 Energy Efficiency and Decarbonization Plan is one pathway the commonwealth is taking to meet its goals with a focus on affordability and reliability.
We know that the high cost of energy is challenging for our customers, and we want to help them plan ahead, manage their energy use and overall cost as best as we can. We highly encourage customers who may need help paying their bill to take advantage of the many assistance programs available and we are here to work with all customers one-on-one to connect them with payment options and bill assistance programs – including our budget billing option that smooths out seasonal spikes by setting a predictable bill amount each month based on our customer’s annual energy use. We’ve scheduled multiple events across the state for our customers in the coming weeks to help them learn more about their bill and connect them with assistance options.
