DPU Orders Mass. Gas Companies to Cut Bills by 5 Percent

The Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities has ordered six gas companies — including Cambridge provider Eversource — to lower total gas bills by five percent, according to a letter sent to the companies on Thursday.

The companies have until Feb. 24 to file their proposals for adjustments, which will take effect on March 1. The move will afford residents some respite, with lower bills expected for the “peak season” months of March and April.

The demand was made after fierce criticism from residents over rising gas bills, prompting eighty state legislators and Mass. Governor Maura T. Healey ’92 to send letters to the DPU requesting a rate change.

In Thursday’s letter, signed by DPU Chair James M. Van Nostrand, as well as Commissioners Cecile M. Fraser and Staci Rubin, the DPU emphasized that “customer affordability lies at the core” of their priorities, citing the department’s establishing statute.

“We must use all available tools at our disposal,” they wrote.

The letter pointed to higher supply costs, a colder winter and “unusually high programmatic costs through delivery charges” as reasons for driving bills to “unsustainable levels.”

“These circumstances warrant immediate measures to provide relief to consumers,” the DPU wrote.

The letter instructs gas companies to make changes to the cost of gas adjustment — the “supply” portion of the bill — covering the cost to purchase and transport natural gas by the companies. The local distribution adjustment factor — known as the “delivery” portion of the bill — will also see changes.

The delivery portion is made up of several components, chief among them being an energy efficiency surcharge that makes up contributions from a resident’s bill to the MassSave program.

The second-largest component relates to the gas system enhancement plans, which are used to ensure the safety of pipeline operations.

According to DPU filings shared by Eversource, supply costs for a customer in their NSTAR Gas territory using 143 therms of energy increased by $4.75 — or 5.2 percent — from Jan. 2024 to Jan. 2025.

Delivery costs jumped 67.5 percent over the same period for this level of usage. More than three quarters of this increase is from energy efficiency charges, and gas enhancement costs were 14 percent of the change.

“Any deferred costs will be collected through the local distribution adjustment factor during the off-peak season (i.e., May through October 2025),” the department officials wrote.

The DPU also intends to “investigate whether to shift certain delivery costs from the peak period to the shoulder and summer seasons on a permanent basis.”

Though the letter instructs companies to reduce rates by least five percent, it also encourages larger decreases to provide residents further relief.

In addition, the DPU encouraged energy companies to review “programmatic spending” behind high delivery costs and adopt more budget-friendly billing measures.

Eversource spokesperson William Hinkle wrote in an emailed statement that “any rate relief is always positive — especially in light of the higher-than-normal gas bill customers have been receiving this winter.”

“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,” he added.

—Staff writer Stephanie Dragoi can be reached at stephanie.dragoi@thecrimson.com.

—Staff writer Thamini Vijeyasingam can be reached at thamini.vijeyasingam@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @vijeyasingam.