Commonwealth of Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities Notice of Inquiry and Request for Comments

On December 15, 2025, the Department of Public Utilities (“Department”) voted to open an 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. The Department’s investigation was docketed as D.P.U. 25-200. This investigation will explore ways to contain energy costs that fall under the Department’s jurisdiction. As part of the investigation, the Department will evaluate all current delivery charges to consider what improvements can be made. The Department established the following objectives for the investigation:

1. 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;
2. 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;
3. 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;
4. 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
5. determine the feasibility of creating a maximum threshold for the amount that charges assessed to customers may change from one month to another.

In its Order, the Department directed the electric distribution companies and gas local distribution companies (collectively, “Distribution Companies”) to each submit a report with the Department containing information necessary for this investigation (“Report”). In addition, the Department invited all interested persons to participate in this proceeding and sought written comments from the Distribution Companies and other interested stakeholders on the questions in the Order by April 14, 2026.

On February 13, 2026, each Distribution Company filed a Report with the Department. The Reports are posted on the Department’s website through our online File Room (enter “25-200” on the line for “Docket No.”).

The Department invites members of the public to submit written comments on the questions contained in the Order and their experience with gas and electric delivery rates, by 5:00 p.m. on April 30, 2026. All documents should be submitted to the Department in .pdf format by email attachment to dpu.efiling@mass.gov and DPU25200.Investigation@mass.gov. The text of the email must specify: (1) the docket number of the proceeding (D.P.U. 25-200); (2) the name of the person or entity submitting the filing; and (3) indicate that the document is a written comment.

All documents submitted in electronic format will be posted on the Department’s website through our online File Room as soon as practicable (enter “25-200” on the line for “Docket No.”). Please note that in the interest of transparency, any comments will be posted to our website as received and without redacting personal information, such as addresses, telephone numbers, or email addresses. As such, consider the extent of information you wish to share when submitting comments. The Department strongly encourages public comments to be submitted by email. If, however, a member of the public is unable to send written comments by email, a paper copy may be sent to Mark D. Marini, Secretary, Department of Public Utilities, One South Station, Boston, Massachusetts, 02110.

All documents submitted to the Department or issued by the Department will be available on the Department’s website as referenced above as soon as is practicable. To the extent a person or entity wishes to submit comments or intervene in accordance with this Notice, electronic submission, as detailed above, is sufficient. To request materials in accessible formats for people with disabilities (Braille, large print, electronic files, audio format), contact the Department’s ADA coordinator at eeadiversity@mass.gov or (617) 626-1282.

For further information regarding this Notice, please contact Stephanie Mealey, Hearing Officer, Department of Public Utilities, at DPU25200.investigation@mass.gov.

English

ATTENTION: Translation and/or interpretation services are available upon request. Please email Kaylee Burgess at dpu.ej@mass.gov to request language services, specifying your preferred language and contact information.

Español (Spanish)

ATENCIÓN: Los servicios de traducción y/o interpretación están disponibles bajo solicitud. Por favor envíe un correo electrónico a Kaylee Burgess en dpu.ej@mass.gov para solicitar los servicios de idiomas, especificando su idioma preferido e información de contacto.

Português (Portuguese)

ATENÇÃO: Disponibilizamos nossos serviços de tradução e/ou interpretação de acordo com a sua demanda. Para solicitar um serviço linguístico, envie um e-mail para Kaylee Burgess através do endereço dpu.ej@mass.gov, informando o idioma desejado e seus dados para contato.

简体中文 (Simplified Chinese)

提醒您：您可依需要申请提供笔译和/或口译服务。 请发送电子邮件给 Kaylee Burgess（dpu.ej@mass.gov）来申请语言服务要求，并注明您的首选语言和联系信息。

繁體中文 (Traditional Chinese)

提醒您: 您可依照需求申請筆譯和/或口譯服務。請以電郵聯絡Kaylee Burgess（dpu.ej@mass.gov）來申請语言服务请求，請在電郵內註明需要的語言和聯絡資訊。

Kreyòl Ayisyen (Haitian Creole)

ATANSYON: Gen sèvis tradiksyon ak/oswa entèpretasyon ki disponib sou demann. Tanpri voye imèl bay Kaylee Burgess nan dpu.ej@mass.gov pou mande sèvis lang, ki enfòme lang ou pi pito a ak enfòmasyon kontak ou.

Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)

LƯU Ý: Các dịch vụ biên dịch và/hoặc phiên dịch có sẵn theo yêu cầu. Vui lòng gửi email đến Kaylee Burgess theo địa chỉ dpu.ej@mass.gov để yêu cầu dịch vụ ngôn ngữ, nêu rõ ngôn ngữ ưa thích của quý vị và thông tin liên lạc

Français (French)

ATTENTION : Des services de traduction et/ou d'interprétation sont disponibles sur demande. Veuillez envoyer un e-mail à Kaylee Burgess à l'adresse dpu.ej@mass.gov pour demander des services linguistiques, en précisant votre langue préférée et vos coordonnées.

(Arabic) العربية

يُرجى الانتباه: تتوفر خدمات الترجمة و/أو الترجمة الفورية عند الطلب.

لطلب خدمات لغوية يُرجى التواصل مع Kaylee Burgess بإرسال

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المفضّلة لديك وتذكر معلومات الاتصال .

ខ្មែរ (Khmer)

ជូនចំព ោះ៖ ពេវាបកប្របឯកសារ និង/ឬអ្នកបកប្របផ្ទាល់ គឺមានតាមការពេនើេ ំ។ េូមព្ញើអ្ ៊ីប្មលពៅ Kaylee Burgess តាម dpu.ej@mass.gov ព ើមប៊ីពេនើេ ំពេវាកមមប្្នកភាសា ពោយបញ្ជាក់ភាសាប្ លអ្នកចង់បាន និងព័ត៌មានទំនាក់ទំនង។

Pусский (Russian)

ВНИМАНИЕ!

Услуги письменного и/или устного перевода предоставляются по запросу. Для запроса услуг перевода обращайтесь к Kaylee Burgess по адресу dpu.ej@mass.gov. В запросе укажите язык перевода и контактную информацию.

한국어 (Korean)

주의: 요청 시 번역 및/또는 통역 서비스가 제공됩니다. Kaylee Burgess에게 dpu.ej@mass.gov로 이메일을 보내 선호하는 언어와 연락처 정보를 명시하여 언어 서비스를 요청하십시오.