Boston Green Action endorses a petition written by Green Energy Consumer Alliance (GECA) that will protect residential electricity rate payers from third-party electric suppliers:
“Today, consumers in Massachusetts can elect to purchase their electric supply from their utility, their local municipal aggregation program (for the towns and cities that have them), or third-party electric suppliers. Unlike rates for basic service or municipal aggregation, third-party supplier prices are not subject to regulation.
Right now, the Legislature is considering a bill, S.2106, An Act Relative to Electric Ratepayer Protections to prohibit third-party suppliers from entering new contracts or renewing existing ones with individual residential electric customers. The bill does not affect the third-party market for commercial and industrial customers. Nor does it curtail municipal aggregation programs that offer residents an alternative to basic service.
The next several weeks represent a critical window for encouraging members of the House and Senate Ways and Means Committees, the Senate and House Leadership, and the Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities, and Energy, to advance, and ultimately pass, S.2106 this session.
It is essential that they hear from local leaders, advocates, and community members from throughout the state that third-party suppliers are harming residents, and passing S.2106 is an urgent priority.”
According to Carrie Katan, Policy Advocate for GECA, “The AG’s office has also found that competitive suppliers disproportionately target—and charge higher electric rates to—low-income communities, communities of color, and communities with a high percentage of households with low English proficiency.” Both Mayor Wu and Governor Healy’s Administration support such a ban to protect the state’s electricity rate payers from the kind of predatory behavior. It has already cost the Commonwealth’s residents over $525M dollars more on their electricity bills (over what they would have paid with their local utilities).
Join Boston Green Action in signing the petition.
Note: The Boston Globe investigation of scam energy suppliers (March 28, 2024) is worth a read:
“…as evidence of deceptive sales tactics mounts, political forces in Massachusetts are aligning around a Senate bill that would enact a first-in-the-nation ban on the industry’s ability to sign up new residential consumers, effectively phasing it out. Support for the bill comes from all levels of government in the state including Gov. Maura Healey, Attorney General Andrea Campbell, and Boston Mayor Michelle Wu.
Despite the political momentum and broad support for the bill, many competitive suppliers and a handful of House legislators are pushing back. They’ve introduced a competing bill to reform the industry, rather than scrap it. Consumers, they say, should have the right to choose their energy plan.”
Image: EnergyBoom, City of Boston
