New DPU inquiry may lead to utility rate relief

BOSTON — Utility regulators want to hear from Massachusetts residents who grapple each month to make choices between paying utility bills and covering other essential costs.

The Department of Public Utilities on Thursday launched an official “inquiry” on the high costs of energy bills and potential improvements to current energy affordability programs that could reduce that burden on residential ratepayers. After a public input period that runs through March 1, DPU will hold meetings to explain the changes under consideration and then issue a written order detailing any changes it might mandate to the energy affordability programs that utility companies are required to offer.

“This proceeding will enable DPU to consider improvements to energy affordability programs to ensure maximum participation and determine if additional resources are needed to aid residential ratepayers to lower the percentage of their income used to pay electricity and heating bills. Possible measures include offering varying levels of discounts depending upon income or placing a cap on the percentage of income spent on bills from energy utilities,” the department said in its announcement.

Massachusetts has some of the highest energy costs in the country. Many households that earn 80% or below the state median income level “endure financial hardships in relation to paying utility bills,” DPU said, and lower-income households pay as much as 3.5 times more of their income on energy than other households.

An analysis from the Department of Energy Resources found that heating oil was the most expensive fuel to heat an average household last winter, costing $2,023 to get through the 2022-23 winter. Propane customers paid $1,492 while natural gas heat cost $907 for the heating season. Electric heating, primarily electric baseboard heating, cost an estimated $1,080, though DOER said that also “reflects the smaller average home size for units that heat with electric resistance (baseboard) heat.”

For this winter, DOER estimated that heating with oil would cost $2,220, up 10%; that propane heat would cost $1,606, up 8%; that natural gas heat would cost $911, down 0.5%; and that electric heat would cost $862, down 20%.