Customers who use natural gas to heat their homes and apartments will face a rate increase ranging from 11 percent to 30 percent in their next monthly bills.
Eversource was approved by state regulators on Thursday for rate increases of 25 percent to 30 percent, while National Grid got approved to hike its rate by 11 percent to 13 percent.
Those increases were approved by the state Department of Public Utilities after extensive review.
Eversource’s new rate affects about 500,000 natural gas customers in Massachusetts, increasing a monthly gas bill of $250, for example, to as high as $325.
National Grid’s rate hike affects about 950,000 natural gas customers in Massachusetts, increasing a monthly of $250 bill, for example, to as high as $282.50.
The increases are effective immediately.
National Grid attributed most of its rate hike to the cost of Mass Save, the state-mandated energy efficiency program paid for by monthly surcharges to ratepayer bills. The program’s budget is slated to increase by 25 percent.
In a statement, National Grid said its overall increase included a hike of about 1.5 percent to cover what it pays for the gas it provides to customers, and that the remaining 9.5 percent to 11.5 percent was attributed to costs “associated with energy efficiency programs.”
Eversource also said one of the components of its rate increase was the cost of paying for Mass Save, but an Eversource spokesperson declined to say how much of the overall requested rate increase is linked to Mass Save.
In a statement, Eversource said that Mass Save is designed to save ratepayers money in the long run.
“Customer participation in the nation-leading Mass Save program, and access to the benefits are what drive down bills for customers on a daily basis,” the statement said.
“Without these programs, bills would be higher, and household budgets would be strained,” the statement said. “The energy that a customer never uses results in real savings.”
Mass Save is managed by a consortium of utilities and for more than a decade has provided home energy audits and thousands of dollars in rebates to incentivize ratepayers to take steps such as weatherizing their homes to reduce energy use and their carbon footprint.
Late last month, the Healey administration announced its support for a plan to increase the Mass Save budget by about 25 percent, from $4 billion for the three-year period ending at the end of this year, to $5 billion for the three-year period from 2025 to 2027.
The new plan was recently unanimously approved by a 14-member energy efficiency advisory council chaired by a representative of the Healey administration’s Department of Energy Resources.
Under the new plan, Mass Save says it would weatherize 184,000 homes, including approximately 75,000 low- and moderate-income households and 51,000 rental units, and support the installation of heat pumps in more than 119,000 households, including 23,000 low- and moderate-income households and 13,000 rental units.
In a statement on Oct. 24, Governor Maura Healey said: “Massachusetts is consistently ranked first in the nation for energy efficiency. This new three-year plan will take Mass Save to the next level.”
A spokesperson for the DPU said the regulatory agency “pursues every possibility to keep rates down for Massachusetts residents and families. As gas prices continue to fluctuate in the winter, the Department has taken action to expand discounts for customers and promote the transition to more stable clean energy sources and away from volatile fossil fuels.”
A Mass Save spokesperson said the state Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs mandates the level of greenhouse gas emission reductions to be delivered statewide under each three-year Mass Save plan, as required by law.
The office of the attorney general, which serves as a ratepayer advocate, also praised the new Mass Save plan.
“This plan will deliver significant, cost-effective benefits to Massachusetts residents, reducing energy burdens for thousands of households and making real progress in transitioning our state to clean heating technologies,” said Liz Anderson, chief of the attorney general’s division of energy and ratepayer advocacy.
Utilities charge customers both for the supply and delivery of natural gas, with Mass Save included among other delivery costs, such as maintaining infrastructure.
On the supply side, utilities generally charge customers what it costs them to purchase natural gas. The cost of natural gas has remained generally stable after coming down from a huge spike triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in early 2022.
In its latest report, the US Energy Information Administration said it expected natural gas prices in the Northeast to rise 1 percent compared with last year.
“In general, we expect relatively little change in energy bills for much of the country this winter from last winter as lower energy prices mostly offset colder weather,” EIA said.
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