The Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities has approved a rate reduction for National Grid plc electric customers. The decision, announced Tuesday, will result in residential customers seeing roughly a 40% decrease in monthly bills starting after May 1.
National Grid serves 1.39 million customers in Massachusetts. Basic service rates change each year on May 1 and Nov. 1.
“The Department knows that these rate reductions will provide much-needed relief to families and businesses,” DPU Acting Chair Cecile Fraser said in a press release on Tuesday. “We continue to work with utilities and stakeholders to help transition our energy supply to clean energy sources at a stable and affordable cost.”
Massachusetts law says electricity must be procured in a competitive market, meaning electric distribution companies are required to contract with an electric supplier on behalf of customers because customers do not get to select their own supplier. There is a competitive bidding process to procure the electricity for basic services. National Grid then passes the costs on to their customers, which the company cannot profit from.
