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The Massachusetts “Department of Public Utilities (“Department”) opens this investigation to conduct a comprehensive review of gas and electric delivery rates and charges with the aims of containing customer costs, reducing utility bill volatility, and increasing utility bill transparency and accessibility. Amidst a rapidly changing energy landscape, the Commission determines that it is necessary to examine whether the current structure of rates and charges aligns with the needs of the Commonwealth’s residents and businesses.”

III. PHASE I: REVIEW OF CHARGES AND RECONCILING MECHANISMS

“With this Order, the Department initiates a thorough review of electric and gas bill charges and reconciling mechanisms to contain costs, reduce bill volatility, promote efficiency and transparency, better reflect cost incurrence, and reduce administrative burden. As part of this review, the Department will focus on the objectives listed below:

• identify electric and gas reconciling mechanisms that can be eliminated or included in base distribution rates going forward, with a goal to contain costs, reduce bill volatility, limit administrative burden, and reduce barriers to stakeholder participation in Department proceedings; 
• determine whether certain electric and gas reconciling mechanism costs should be collected from customers through fixed charges rather than volumetric charges, with a goal of more cost-reflective rates and to reduce bill volatility; 
• determine whether certain electric reconciling mechanisms should be included in the electric distribution companies’ annual retail rate filings for review and approval rather than filed in separate dockets at different times of the year, with a goal of reducing administrative burden and cost and promoting greater transparency; 
• determine how the value of net metering credits and the associated bill impacts to electric customers in Massachusetts compare to similar programs in other jurisdictions and whether the value of the net metering credit should be adjusted, with a goal to reduce costs associated with net metering; and 
• determine the feasibility of creating a maximum threshold for the amount that charges assessed to customers may change from one month to another.

The Commission will also evaluate the following matters:

Benefits Of Converting Current Volumetric Rates To Fixed Charges:

“In addition to investigating whether each current reconciling charge should transition to base distribution rates, we will also examine the benefits of converting current volumetric rates to fixed charges. Both electric and gas reconciling mechanism costs are primarily recovered through volumetric rates, rather than fixed charges. A report by the IRWG found that the existing method of recovering some of these costs from ratepayers through volumetric rates is inconsistent with ratemaking best practices—specifically, that rates should be cost reflective.”

Timing And Composition Of The Current Electric Annual Reconciling Mechanism:

“[T]he Department will examine the timing and composition of the current electric annual reconciling mechanism petitions filed with the Department.  . . . The comprehensive review of reconciling mechanisms described above should lead to a consolidation and reduction in the number of rate changes over the course of a year, reducing administrative burden and cost and permitting greater transparency and certainty regarding rate changes.”

Net Metering Program:

“Finally, the Department acknowledges that the potential changes to electric distribution kilowatt–hour charges contemplated by this investigation necessitate consideration of the effects on the net metering program. .  . We take this opportunity to investigate how net metering credits offered in Massachusetts compare with similar offerings in other jurisdictions and to determine whether the current value of net metering credits appropriately balances the benefits of incentivizing the deployment of distributed generation with the costs borne by ratepayers. Therefore, in this investigation we will consider reductions to the value of the net metering credit, which would result in a corresponding reduction to the overall net metering recovery surcharge paid by electric ratepayers, as part of our evaluation of changes to electric delivery rates.”

Request for Information from the Distribution Companies

The Department intends to conduct this investigation expeditiously. To that end, the Department directs each Distribution Company to submit a report with the Department that includes the following information – See page 16 of the Order.

Each Distribution Company shall submit its report no later than January 30, 2026. The Department anticipates scheduling one or more technical conferences for the Distribution Companies to present their reports. The Department will provide an agenda in advance of the technical conference(s).

Request for Comments 

The Department invites all interested persons to participate in this proceeding and provide input on the Department’s review of gas and electric rates to contain customer costs, reduce bill volatility, and to increase electric and gas utility bill transparency and accessibility. The Department seeks written comments from the Distribution Companies and other interested stakeholders responding to any or all of the questions below by 5:00 p.m. on March 31, 2026. Reply comments should be filed no later than 5:00 p.m. on April 30, 2026.

The Department requests comments responding to the following questions: 

1. Which reconciling charges should be recovered through base distribution rates and why?
2. Which reconciling charges should be recovered through fixed charges in lieu of volumetric rates and why? 
3. Volumetric pricing creates strong incentives for conservation and energy efficiency; however, volumetric pricing of electricity tends to discourage the electrification of heating and transportation. Please comment on the merits of fixed charges in lieu of volumetric charges to incentivize electrification, including the range of impacts that customers would experience, and in particular, how fixed charges increase bill impacts for low-use customers. 
4. If fixed charges replace volumetric pricing, what other policies are necessary and appropriate to continue to incentivize conservation and energy efficiency or to mitigate bill increases for low-use customers? 
5. Please comment on the merits of shifting current volumetric reconciling charges into base distribution rates. As part of these comments, please discuss the equity implications of reducing volumetric reconciling charges in favor of base distribution rates or fixed charges. 
6. For purposes of ensuring affordability during peak periods, should the Department set thresholds or other standards to require lower rates in the peak periods (i.e., winter for gas) and higher rates in the off–peak periods? Please refer to the LDCs’ recent deferrals of some costs to the off–peak period during the 2024-2025 winter season. 
7. What other legislative or regulatory changes, if any, are necessary to ensure that gas and electric rates are affordable and aligned with the Commonwealth’s energy policies? 
8. Should the Department set thresholds to reduce periodic bill volatility? What should the thresholds be? Over what periods of time? 
9. Should the Department modify the timing of bill changes to reduce volatility or to serve other policy objectives?
10. Should the Department reform net metering values or structures for excess distributed generation to increase customer affordability? If so, how? Please identify examples from other jurisdictions where instructive. 
11. What other policies should the Department evaluate to reduce bill volatility?

1. PHASE II:  UTILITY BILL REDESIGN

“[A]s a second phase of this investigation, the Department will investigate how to redesign Massachusetts utility bills to enhance customer knowledge, agency, and responsiveness to price and policy signals. The Department will provide additional procedural guidance on Phase II in the future.”

1. OTHER AFFORDABILITY & TRANSPARENCY INITIATIVES

AMI Load Settlement Data 

“As noted in a Hearing Officer Memorandum, the Department will soon open a new proceeding to investigate reporting of AMI interval data to ISO New England for load settlement and capacity tag calculations, accelerated switching, and dynamic rate-ready TVR offered by competitive suppliers and municipal aggregators.58 Resolving this issue will allow competitive suppliers to offer robust time-varying rates to their customers, including municipal aggregations, improving customers’ understanding and control over their electric bills. 

Updates to Utility Billing and Termination Regulations 

“Gas and electric utilities have a fundamental responsibility to provide accurate, timely, and transparent bills to their customers. Recent experience—including multiple, significant examples of delayed or inaccurate bills—shows that the utilities are not consistently meeting their obligations. In a separate investigation, the Department will examine the utilities’ current practices and recent performance in customer billing and determine whether the Department’s current billing and termination regulations are sufficient to ensure consumer protection.”

D.P.U. 25-200_Vote and Order Opening Investigation  (12/15,2025)
Docket 25-200
(Investigation by the Department of Public Utilities on Its Own Motion into Gas and Electric Delivery Charges and Bill Redesign.)