The Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities has told power companies to warn customers they could be hit with retroactive rate hikes by switching electricity suppliers.
An obscure 15-year old regulation that allows utility companies to retroactively raise rates for customers who change electricity suppliers in order to lower their energy bills has come under fire from elected officials and consumer advocates.
State Representative Jose Tosado of Springfield and other area legislators have called on the DPU to repeal the regulation.
" At the end of the day it does not pass the smell test," he said.
The rule that was put in place in 2000 when the Massachusetts electricity supply market was opened to competition was intended to discourage people from constantly switching suppliers. The state’s major public utility companies raised electric rates by 27 percent last winter.
