Mass. Electric Customers To Get $50 Credit

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LOWELL — Governor Maura Healey said Monday that millions of utility customers in Massachusetts will receive a $50 credit on their April electric bills, calling it one of several moves her administration intends to make to help offset surging energy costs many households faced this winter.

"I know [$50] is not a ton of money compared to what people have been paying, but it is something," Healey told reporters. "And every dollar counts."

Healey framed the credit as one component of a longer-term — and still-forming — plan her administration is pursuing to pare back energy costs for residents. If fully realized, she said, the plan could save ratepayers billions of dollars over five years.

Healey and her top energy official said the state, for example, is developing plans for discounts for moderate-income households, as required by the sweeping climate bill Healey signed last year. The cost of the new discounts would be shouldered by all customers, though the rates would need approval from the Department of Public Utilities.

But who could ultimately qualify and how much it could save them is unclear. "More details to come on that," Healey said.

"Redistributing costs is fair and important in terms of providing some people cost relief, but it's also important to figure out how to take down the overall cost of decarbonizing," Barrett said. "Pain around costs can push dealing with climate off to the side. It's agonizing to figure out how to balance everything. [There are] no easy answers there."

For now, ratepayers will see some immediate help after a winter of sticker shock on their natural gas bills.