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Agency official demands utilities return roughly $1.5 billion after regulator finding
Summary
The speaker said federal regulators found utilities had overcharged Massachusetts customers by about $1.5 billion and publicly urged utilities appealing that finding to drop appeals and return funds to ratepayers.
An agency official said federal regulators previously ruled that utilities had overcharged Massachusetts customers and that the excess profits amounted to roughly $1.5 billion. The official recalled filing a case while serving as attorney general, saying, "We won that case," and said utilities have appealed the ruling and are refusing to return the funds to customers.
The official named major utilities that have proposed rate increases in the past year — National Grid, Eversource, Berkshire Gas and Liberty Gas — and said some proposed increases were "as high as 55%." She criticized utility shareholder messaging that, she said, signaled intent to keep fighting the refund order and publicly asked utilities appealing the decision to drop their appeals and pay Massachusetts residents the money they are owed. The official described the figure as money "people in Massachusetts are owed right now, and they shouldn't have to wait a 2nd longer."
