FRIDAY, MARCH 7, 2025
Dear Cambridge and Somerville Constituents —
Last week, I wrote to you with an update on the efforts we are making to respond to outrageous increases on our gas and electric utility bills.
In particular, I explained how the state's Department of Public Utilities (DPU) responded to our initial advocacy by ordering Eversource and the other investor-owned utilities to reduce customers' gas bills by 5% in March and April. At first, that sounded like a decent step — but then it became clear the statutory mechanism DPU used to do this allowed the utilities to recover that discount, plus interest, later this year.
Several constituents reached out to me or replied to my email to say that kind of response wasn't much of a solution at all — and others, very rightfully, called it "a slap in the face." I agree.
Therefore, I have remained engaged on this issue and committed to advocating for a better outcome. As of this afternoon, I am very pleased to report a significantly better response is now coming together.
First, Eversource has reportedly agreed to reduce customers' gas bills by 11% for the months of March and April.
Most notably, Eversource will absorb the cost of this discount — meaning, they will not attempt to recoup this discount from customers later this year, and there will not be any interest charges associated with it, either.
This means customers will finally start to see some real savings on these outrageously high gas bills. And if you are struggling with your bill, hopefully you’ve set up a payment plan, as these discounts should make future payments somewhat more manageable.
I want to thank the Healey-Driscoll Administration, along with Attorney General Andrea Campbell and my legislative colleagues, for joining with me in advocating to reach this better outcome. The arrangement is still subject to final approval from DPU, but I was on the phone with Administration officials this morning and throughout the week, and they confirmed for me that it will be happening.
Believe it or not, it sounds like Eversource recognized the 29% profits they reported on their gas delivery business last year made the increases we've been seeing on our bills this year completely unconscionable — so they, along with all of the other corporate utilities in Massachusetts — have now agreed to absorb these discounted costs over the next two months.
Moreover, DPU has also moved to reduce the size of the recently increased Mass Save budget by 10% — from $5 billion over the next three years, to $4.5 billion.
This Mass Save adjustment is expected to result in an overall rate cut for both gas and electric bills going forward.
This rate cut is expected to be seen starting May 1 on gas bills, and by July 1st (possibly sooner) on electric bills (due to differences in rate-setting timelines and Mass Save plans).
And, because customers have already been charged for several gas and electric bills with rates based on the assumption of a $5 billion Mass Save budget, this also means customers will see even more of a discount, since under this new Mass Save budget, customers will have overpaid on that portion of the bill in recent months.
If any of this sound complicated, let me say, I've spent a lot of time this week doing my best to advocate, gather information, and figure out how to explain it as succinctly as possible. My office has been in regular contact with the Office of Attorney General Andrea Campbell, as she is the officially-designated ratepayer advocate for the residents of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts during DPU hearings.
I've also been advocating directly to Eversource, and on Wednesday afternoon, I attended a State House briefing hosted by the new House Chair of the Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities, and Energy, Mark Cusack.
At the briefing, we heard from Undersecretary of Energy, Mike Judge, who walked us through all of the many complicated components that go into formulating our utility bills.
One thing that jumped out at me in that briefing was how the utilities' ability to profit is largely based on the value of their overall assets, e.g. all those pipes in the ground. This value is determined through a process that is incredibly complicated, so that had me questioning whether the corporate utilities are inflating those values to allow for greater earnings. This is an area I plan to continue exploring, even as I also promote legislation to facilitate public ownership of our public utilities.
Finally, it should also be noted that there is some concern over the fact that the Mass Save budget is being cut by 10%.
As the Sierra Club and other climate activists noted earlier this week, in the long run, investments in energy efficiency through the Mass Save program help customers save money on their energy costs, through the installation of heat pumps, for example.
In response to this concern, I am currently advocating to the Administration to support an alternative way of replenishing the $500 million that's now being cut from the Mass Save budget over the next three years. I even have a great suggestion — my bill to establish a tiered corporate minimum tax. It's hard to believe, but some corporations use creative accounting tactics to avoid showing any profit and thereby avoid paying corporate tax in Massachusetts. When this happens, those corporations pay the "corporate minimum tax," which for years has been set at a one-sized-fits all rate of $456 in our state. My proposal would keep the flat fee in place for smaller corporations, but would increase the minimum tax for corporations with larger revenues. It would be a great way to raise money, especially as the Trump Administration looks to cut corporate tax rates even more.
Thank you, as always, for being an informed and engaged constituent. I will continue advocating for cost-savings and fairness on our utility bills and systemic solutions to the climate emergency, while also pushing to make big corporations pay their fair share in taxes.
Please do not hesitate to reach out with any questions or concerns on this or any other matter, and have a nice weekend!
Yours in service,
Rep. Mike Connolly
