It’s not yet clear what Eversource’s new electric rates will be the utility plans to file them for the January-to-June rate season in mid-November. ![]() Many Eversource gas customers could see even bigger increases: The company said typical residential accounts in the former NStar Gas territory will see an increase of 34 percent from last winter, or roughly $78, on monthly gas bills starting in November, while those in the former Columbia Gas territory face a 25 percent increase, or $61 a month. Those hikes will be less severe than the electric bills because National Grid uses a hedging strategy to buy natural gas over time, and a significant amount of the gas was procured before the Ukraine war began. ![]() Typical residential customers should expect a 22 to 24 percent increase from last winter’s bills, or an additional $50 a month. National Grid, which has about 960,000 natural gas accounts in Massachusetts, also filed with the state DPU last week for new natural gas heating rates. Many other households will not pay for this specific increase because they have moved to competitive suppliers in recent years amid a trend of municipal aggregation, in which cities and towns make large power purchases on behalf of residents, usually to support more-renewable electricity. To help customers, National Grid has launched what it calls a “winter customer savings initiative,” an effort to highlight various programs for energy savings, flexible payments to spread out the expense, and discounted rates for customers with low incomes.Īttorney General Maura Healey’s office issued a statement saying the National Grid increase will be “devastating for hundreds of thousands of customers in Massachusetts who simply cannot afford it.” Healey’s staff plans to meet with utilities, state regulators, and advocacy groups to address the problem.īurt said about half of National Grid’s 1.35 million Massachusetts electric customers, roughly 667,000 accounts, still get basic service, meaning they rely on National Grid to procure their electricity supplies as opposed to shopping for a competitive supplier. Helen Burt, National Grid’s chief customer officer, said the utility procured its electricity supplies for the upcoming winter in two tranches: one set of purchases took place in the spring, just as wholesale gas prices were starting to rise as a result of the Ukraine conflict the other purchase happened earlier this month, after wholesale prices had risen even further. are we feeling it more than other parts of the country? I think the answer is probably yes.” ![]() “They’re just passing through the unavoidable costs. “National Grid hasn’t done anything wrong,” Levitan said. ![]() Plus, Levitan said, New England’s limited pipeline capacity drives up electric prices as power plants take a back seat to customers who use natural gas for heat in the winter. Richard Levitan, president of energy consultancy Levitan & Associates, said the interruption of pipeline gas from Russia to Europe has spiked demand for liquefied natural gas that can be shipped overseas. “We’re competing with Europe in a way that we’ve never done before,” said Paul Flemming, managing director of ESAI Power, an energy research and consulting firm.
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