Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey says the state Department of Public Utilities needs to reset the balance between company profits and customer rates.
Healey testified at a DPU hearing last night in Pittsfield to challenge a request by Eversource to raise its electricity rates next year.
Eversource wants to raise Western Massachusetts customers’ electric rates by more than $36 million next year and $8 million annually for the next four years. But Healey, a Democrat, says many customers are struggling to make ends meet, including businesses.
“It’s time to return money to customers, not to raise their electric bills to benefit a highly profitable utility company,” Healey said.
State legislators, City of Pittsfield leaders, and representatives of Berkshire Medical Center, Berkshire Community College, several businesses and more than 100 residents echoed Healey’s testimony.
Healey says it could cost Western Massachusetts customers an extra $150 a year.
