National Grid Raising MA Electricity Rates, Eversource To Follow

MASSACHUSETTS — It's electricity rate-increasing season in Massachusetts.

Eversource and National Grid, two of the largest electricity utilities in the state, will increase electricity supply rates in the coming months, according to state Department of Public Utilities filings.

The good news: the increases won't be as steep as ratepayers saw last winter.

This week, National Grid alerted DPU it wants to increase its rates this winter to 18.213 cents per kilowatt-hour starting Nov. 1. That's about a 4 cent increase compared to current summer electricity supply rates. In November 2022, National Grid received approval to increase winter basic supply rates to more than 33 cents per kilowatt-hour — a shock for ratepayers in National Grid's electric service area in Worcester, Middlesex, Essex, Bristol, Norfolk and Plymouth counties.

Eversource is also planning to changes its basic electric service rate on Jan. 1, but hasn't notified DPU what increase it wants. That figure will likely be filed in November. Eversource is the main electric utility in Boston and the surrounding communities.

The increases come as DPU attempts to ease rate increases for customers in Massachusetts following last winter's big hikes, which utilities blamed on natural gas supply constraints linked to the war in Ukraine. Nearly 60 percent of New England's electricity is supplied by natural gas plants, according to ISO New England.

DPU is now requiring utilities to split the basic electricity service periods into new six-month chunks: February through July and August through January. The new arrangement means the two traditionally coldest months of the year will be divided between different rate periods, which means customers could potentially pay less during some winter months. Utilities split service rates between a higher winter rate and a typically lower summer rate. Unitil, which provides electricity in northern Worcester County, already follows this schedule.

National Grid likely won't begin following the new schedule until after this winter because the company is still operating on the old procurement schedule, whose summer period closes at the end of October.

Massachusetts residents can participate in the annual rate-setting process by sending comments or attending public hearings around rate hikes.

Many cities and towns also offer municipal aggregation programs that allow residents to pay lower electricity supply rates than offered by companies like Eversource and National Grid. Find out if your community offers an aggregation program here.