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On March 12^th the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities (DPU) issued a order opening an investigation Into the Use of Interval Data Collected by Advanced Metering Infrastructure to Settle Load with ISO New England Inc.

“Consistent with the Department of Public Utilities’ (“Department”) grid modernization objectives, the Department opens this investigation to develop policies that will enable third-party electricity suppliers to offer time-varying rates (“TVR”) to their customers and examine ways to enhance load settlement with ISO New England Inc. (“ISO-NE”).”

“Specifically, this investigation will examine the necessary systems and system upgrades to allow load settlement with ISO-NE based on customer interval usage data collected by advanced metering infrastructure (“AMI”). The Department will solicit input from stakeholders, including the electric distribution companies (“EDCs”),1 retail electricity suppliers, municipal aggregations, ISO-NE, third-party energy service providers, and other interested stakeholders.”

All comments must be filed no later than 5:00 p.m. on April 23, 2026.

“In this proceeding, the Department seeks to gather information that will assist us in: (1) developing policies that will enable a competitive market for third-party suppliers to offer TVR and (2) examining the use of AMI interval usage data for the purposes of load settlement with ISO-NE. To this end, the Department seeks to investigate the steps necessary to enable the use of AMI data for load settlement, including, but not limited to, the following considerations:

• the EDCs’ and ISO-NE’s capabilities, now and going forward, for transmitting, accepting, and using AMI interval usage data for the purpose of load settlement;
• the resources, time, and steps needed to enable use of AMI interval usage data for load settlement in the ISO-NE energy and ancillary services markets, including any necessary actions to be taken by the EDCs, ISO-NE, retail electricity suppliers, municipal aggregators, third-party energy service providers, and any other stakeholders to fully utilize interval data; and 3. any additional considerations or implications related to the costs, benefits, and feasibility of upgrading each EDC’s load settlement system to enable use of AMI interval usage data for load settlement in the ISO-NE energy and ancillary services markets.

“The Department seeks to investigate the costs, benefits, and feasibility of enabling use of residential and small commercial and industrial (“C&I”) customers’ AMI interval usage data to settle load with ISO-NE. To that end, the Department requests comments from EDCs, retail electricity suppliers including municipal aggregators, ISO-NE, third-party energy service providers, residential and C&I consumers, and other interested stakeholders to inform the advantages and disadvantages of alternative pathways to upgrading each EDC’s load settlement system to enable the use of AMI interval usage data for load settlement with ISO-NE. In addition to written responses from these stakeholders to the directed questions below, the Department welcomes written comments from any stakeholder related to the benefits, costs, and process needed to enable use of AMI interval usage data for load settlement with ISO-NE.”

To Retail Electricity Suppliers, including Municipal Aggregators the DPU Asks:

1. Please describe the extent to which each EDC’s current AMI Implementation Plan achieves the first part of the advanced metering functionality definition established in D.P.U. 12-76-B, namely, the collection of customers’ interval usage data, in near real time, usable for settlement in the ISO-NE energy and ancillary services markets.
2. Please describe any limitations of the current system for load settlement on retail electricity suppliers’ ability to offer time-differentiated or behavior-based energy products (e.g., TVR, demand response incentives, participation in virtual power plants, calculation of installed capacity tags, etc.) to residential and small C&I customers in Massachusetts. If limitations of the current system vary by EDC, please describe the differences.
3. Please discuss the potential benefits to customers and the distribution grid of using AMI interval usage data for load settlement in the ISO-NE energy and ancillary services markets as it relates to: a. reducing peak demand by enabling retail suppliers, municipalities, and third-party energy service providers to offer time-differentiated or behavior-based energy products (e.g., TVR, demand response incentives, and participation in virtual power plants) to residential and small C&I customers in Massachusetts; b. enabling capacity tag calculations to reflect customer energy usage more accurately; c. providing additional granularity and accuracy to ISO-NE and other parties involved in developing load forecasts; d. improving customers’ understanding and control over their electric bills; and e. other benefits (e.g., cost savings to customers, reduction in peak demand, deferred infrastructure investments due to reduction in peak demand).
4. Please identify and quantify any known benefits realized in other jurisdictions, including specific examples and monetized value of enabling use of AMI interval usage data for load settlement. Please include the results of any relevant cost-benefit analyses.
5. Please describe whether and how the benefits to the distribution grid and to customers associated with enabling use of AMI interval usage data for load settlement with ISO-NE may change depending on the timing of when such use of interval data is enabled.
6. Please discuss potential cost-sharing methods (e.g., sharing costs between suppliers and ratepayers) to minimize ratepayer costs associated with any necessary investments to enable the use of AMI interval usage data to settle load with ISO-NE.
7. Please identify any additional considerations, implications, or process steps needed to support the use of AMI interval usage data for load settlement with ISO-NE.

Separate questions were issued to the EDUs and to ISO-NE.