Mass. Eversource customers won’t pay more this winter as gas rate hike is denied

Hundreds of thousands of people in Massachusetts won’t have to pay more to heat their homes this winter as Eversource’s requested rate hike for the coming winter was denied by the state’s Department of Public Utilities.

Eversource had asked the Department of Public Utilities to sign off a 13% increase, which would have raised the average bill about $41 starting Nov. 1. But the Department of Public Utilities told the company on Wednesday that it hadn’t met all of the performance metrics necessary to allow the rate increase to go ahead.

“This decision saves customers approximately $45 million this year. The DPU will continue to prioritize energy affordability, uphold its performance standards for all investor-owned utilities, and take action to avoid high price spikes this winter,” the agency’s chair, Jeremy McDiarmid, said in a statement.

Eversource has requested an approximately 13% increase, while National Grid is asking for a 3.8% rate hike.

Gov. Maura Healey, who’d been incensed by the proposed new gas rates and their potential impact on families, welcomed the news.

“This is a start, but more work must be done to lower costs for families and businesses. I am going to continue to call for more relief – including through my energy affordability legislation,” she said in a statement.

Eversource called the ruling “puzzling,” saying in a statement that “it will result in a path of greater impacts for customers over the next year in favor of a near-term cut of a more nominal amount.”

The utility couldn’t predict what impact the impact on bills the rate adjustment would have.

Eversource has approximately 640,000 gas customers in Massachusetts.

Last month, National Grid sought approval for a total bill increase of 3.8% for Boston Gas customers and 3.7% for those customers in the former Colonial Gas service territory (mostly customers in Lowell region and on Cape Cod).

Winter will soon be here, and so too could higher heating bill for many across Massachusetts. Here’s how much they’re expected to spike going into 2026.