Mass. DPU takes action against National Grid over billing and service issues

The Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities is taking action against National Grid, limiting how much it can collect from customers after months of billing failures and fining the company millions of dollars for service issues in 2023.

In a letter Monday, DPU leaders excoriated National Grid for failing to send timely bills to tens of thousands of natural gas customers — and for not reporting the issue to the department sooner.

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"The Company recently informed the Department that upwards of 35,000 customers were not billed in the October/November period and that, as of the date of this letter order, only 92 percent of these customers have resumed receiving bills," the department said in the letter. "In other words, some 3,000 customers have received no bills for five or six months, while many others started receiving bills again only recently, with bills reflecting three or four months of consumption due at once."

The DPU said Monday that timely and transparent billing "is a fundamental obligation of electric and gas distribution companies," and that "Substantial delays in sending bills deprive customers of the opportunity to adjust their behavior (i.e., energy usage) in response to the distinct price signal produced by the rates and charges set forth in their utility bills."

"My concern was I was going to have either a huge bill, all at one time, or possibly, they didn't know that I still am a customer, and maybe they were going to shut my gas off," one customer, whose last bill from National Grid had come in October, told NBC10 Boston in January.

The problem was exacerbated by the company's failure to report it to the DPU after it came to light in November.

"The Company's failure to proactively acknowledge the billing issue and work constructively with the Department to craft an appropriate solution is inexcusable," the department said.

Earlier this year, a National Grid spokesperson told The Boston Globe that affected customers would eventually be billed for the entire period.

The DPU told National Grid in its letter that it was not allowed to bill customers for several months of energy usage.

"For each customer who has not received a bill since the beginning of the peak season, the Company shall waive charges for any usage occurring more than 60 days prior to the date the Company sends the customer its next bill," the DPU said. "For customers who did not receive a bill for more than 60 days, the Company shall either waive collection of amounts owed for usage more than 60 days prior to the date of said bills or, if the customer has already paid, the Company shall credit or refund such sums to each customer."

National Grid is also required to make accommodations for customers who would struggle to pay a bill dating back 60 days.

"When such customers request bill payment assistance from the Company, the Company shall require a down payment of no more than 10 percent of the amount owed and shall permit a payment plan period of at least 9 months," the DPU said.

Additionally, the department fined National Grid $15 million "for service quality failures in 2023," a spokesperson said in an email to NBC10 Boston.

"The company has proposed to return this money back to its electric customers through a one-time credit that will occur in May," the spokesperson said. "The DPU is reviewing this proposal that was submitted earlier in the month."

Read the full letter from the DPU below: