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IT’S AN UNWELCOME FACT that far too many utility customers across Massachusetts struggle to afford their monthly bills. While utilities, including National Grid, offer discounted rates and other assistance programs, they are often undersubscribed, or the discount simply can’t cover the bills.

As Massachusetts begins the much-needed conversation about shoring up our electric system while ending the historic burdens placed on environmental justice communities, we also need to devise a strategy for delivering affordable service, whether you’re in Westport, Worcester, or Williamstown.  

Earlier this month the Department of Public Utilities announced it would review affordability programs that help some residents pay their utility bills. The initiative comes at a time when significant investments are needed to decarbonize the energy system and the grid, and energy costs are high and expected to increase. 

National Grid wholeheartedly supports the DPU review. In fact, we sought to advance affordability in our recent Comprehensive Performance Investment proposal to the DPU in November.

Although National Grid and other utilities provide customers with assistance — including a moratorium on shutoffs, deferred payment agreements, and outreach on programs that move the needle — many customers still struggle. According to the National Consumer Law Center, more than 750,000 Massachusetts residential customers were behind on their electric or gas bills as of December 2021.

Our proposal included a new tiered discount rate program to tackle this issue. The first of its kind in Massachusetts, the idea is simple: Provide larger discounts for income-eligible customers to ensure greater equity in how we support Bay Staters.

Currently, customers earning 60 percent of the state median income or less are eligible for a 32 percent discount across the board. To address inequities, National Grid is proposing to increase discounts from 32 percent to up to 55 percent for some customers, depending on income and energy burden. Through a nominal cost shared across National Grid’s 1.3 million Massachusetts electric customers, this model would be more responsive to our customers’ needs and would be coupled with a robust, sustained, and targeted outreach and awareness campaign led by a team focused on increasing program participation.

To further address affordability, as we encourage customers to consider electrifying their homes and transportation, we believe nobody should be penalized for making these choices. National Grid is proposing an opt-in electrification rate for customers who adopt full electrification of their homes and businesses. This would safeguard against cost spikes with increased electricity usage, saving as much as 10 percent on customers’ monthly bills. 

These proposals are part of National Grid’s Comprehensive Performance and Investment Plan filed in November with the state Department of Public Utilities . This plan not only covers proposals for alleviating energy burdens but also how we will deliver strategic local infrastructure projects and programs necessary to reinforce the electric system, enhance customer service, improve transparency, and increase bill predictability. The investments outlined are expected to generate approximately $750 million in economic activity statewide while supporting more than 6,000 new full and part-time jobs. 

This comes as Massachusetts undergoes an unprecedented energy transition, the scope and scale of which has never been seen before. Over the next five years, households and businesses will increasingly rely on electricity to power all aspects of their lives and operations. Tomorrow’s grid must double in size to meet this growing demand. It must be far stronger to stand up to more frequent storms caused by climate change and smarter and more technologically advanced to meet changing customer needs. 

While it took decades to build today’s grid, we have far less time to make the investments necessary to ensure it can meet Massachusetts’ ambitious climate goals.

Since our last rate review in 2018, National Grid has focused on safely and reliably delivering cleaner energy to our customers. That includes investments of more than $2 billion to accommodate economic growth, greater electrification, the installation of additional solar and battery storage resources, and increased reliability and resilience in the face of stronger storms. The result is system availability 99.9 percent of the time. 

Our latest proposal is the critical next step in delivering more of these results for our 1.4 million customers. If approved, this plan would, effective October 2024, result in an average annual bill increase of approximately 2.2 percent. But we are not seeking a nominal increase without the accountability that ratepayers expect. National Grid would be penalized if it did not deliver on its goals, such as bringing more customers into discount programs, delivering infrastructure projects, and adopting clean energy requirements. The company would also face penalties if it did not meet goals for enabling greenhouse gas emissions to be reduced and improving customer engagement. 

Nothing is more important than maintaining a reliable, resilient, and safe network to deliver the energy our customers need when they need it, while we build the foundation for the future. The DPU is correctly looking to ensure we make that system affordable for all. National Grid looks forward to working with the DPU to enhance affordability for all customers while building the electric grid of tomorrow that meets our customers’ growing needs.   

Nicola Medalova is the chief operating officer for Electric for National Grid New England.