WALPOLE, Mass. — Boston 25 crews took you behind the scenes in Norton on Tuesday, where Eversource crews worked underground to replace aging gas lines. Now, the focus shifts to your wallet, and whether these upgrades are driving up costs.
Boston 25 News spoke exclusively with Eversource’s Director of External Communications, William Hinkle, to explain the charges you see on your bill.
“Last year we implemented a redesign of our natural gas bills for our customers in Massachusetts,” said Hinkle. “So previously customers would see a supply cost and a delivery cost and then all sorts of different rate components underneath those two segments...”
So, here’s a breakdown:
New data shared by Eversource shows that your natural gas bill is made up of three main components, one of them is the actual gas you use, about 40 to 45 percent of your bill goes toward supply and another large portion, which is more than 40 percent, goes toward the system that gets that gas to your home. This includes upgrades to pipes and replacing aging gas lines like you saw crews working on in Norton on Tuesday.
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A smaller slice of your bill even covers public benefits, like state-mandated programs.
“It’s very difficult to point to one single portion of the bill as the sole driver of what customers are experiencing,” said Hinkle. “It’s very difficult to point to one single portion of the bill as the sole driver of what customers are experiencing because the truth of the matter is affordability energy affordability in the region not just in Massachusetts is a significant challenge one that we’re focused on trying to address every single day.”
Critics like Founder of Citizens Against Eversource Elijah DeSousa says it’s not about what customers are paying for, he says he hears from many customers in his online forum who say they can’t afford it.
“Rate payers are forced to buy in to this new infrastructure whatever that may be and they have no ownership stakes within it and so it’s a win, win for these utility companies,” said DeSousa. “Why does it cost so much to deliver this energy? And it’s not that the actual transmission of it is what costs money, it’s that whatever investments Eversource is making through the mechanism of a revenue…they’re allowed to passed that on to consumers...”
Eversource says there are programs available to help customers manage their bills, including payment plans, discounts and other resources consumers should take advantage of especially with warmer days ahead.
“We’re constantly focused on affordability and transparency for our customers trying to help them better understand all the different things that can impact their total bill,” said Hinkle.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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