A bill approved by the Massachusetts Senate would ban retail electricity providers, which have cost customers in the commonwealth hundreds of millions in recent years.
Senate Bill 2738, which now heads to the state house, would block any “supplier, energy marketer or energy broker” from executing new contracts for generation services with residential retail customers beginning in 2025. Municipal load aggregation programs would be exempt from the law.
The bill was filed after the Massachusetts attorney general found customers of retail electricity providers paid $577 million more than traditional utility customers in the last eight years. The commonwealth’s top law enforcement official labeled Massachusetts’ competitive electric supply industry “predatory and broken,” while calling on the legislature to protect customers.
“The harms caused by these companies significantly outweigh any benefits to consumers,” Attorney General Andrea Campbell said.
During the most recent study period, July 2022–June 2023, utility basic service rates in some areas of Massachusetts were more than double the highest-ever basic service rate due to unprecedented volatility in the energy markets, the attorney general said. Customers who signed up with an electric supplier realized only $30.4 million in net savings for the year, a number which Campbell said “is dwarfed by the significant net losses experienced in every other year studied.” Individual low-income customers experienced net losses of $82.2 million over that period.
