As electricity service rates from utilities soared in some cases to more than double the previous highs between July 2022 and June 2023, the competitive electric supply industry failed to deliver on its claims to provide significant savings for Massachusetts households, the attorney general's office said.
"This report once again shows a clear pattern by the individual competitive electric supply industry of substantially harming our residents, with customers experiencing net losses of $51.8 million for the two years studied and predominantly in communities of color and low income communities," Campbell said.
"Record-high basic service rates should have presented the perfect opportunity for the individual residential electric supply market to deliver on its promises and provide customers with the benefit of significant savings. Analysis of the actual rates charged by suppliers to their customers during this timeframe, however, reveals a broken and predatory market that continues to harm customers, and low-income customers in particular," the report says.
Christopher Ercoli, president and CEO of the Retail Energy Advancement League that backs industry reforms rather than outright elimination, said the report from Campbell's office"misleads both the public and the state legislature" with the way it compares basic utility products to"value-added products" offered by some competitive suppliers.
Legislation that would ban competitive electric supply for residential customers has been on Beacon Hill's back burner in recent years. The Senate adopted language cracking down on the industry in its version of a 2022 climate and clean energy bill, but the idea didn't survive negotiations with the House.