Healey says electricity suppliers still overcharging customers

By Max Jungreis Globe Correspondent
August 1, 2019

Many Massachusetts residents who have switched energy suppliers are still paying too much for electricity, Attorney General Maura Healey said in a new report released Thursday.

The report found that consumers who had switched to competitive electricity suppliers paid $76.2 million more a year than if they had stayed with their state-regulated utilities, such as Eversource Energy and National Grid. The period covered the fiscal year that ended in June 2018.

Healey has been hammering away at so-called competitive electricity suppliers, saying they often scam residents with deceptive marketing tactics that dangle low prices but end up costing more. In March 2018, she released a similar report showing that consumers had paid $176.8 million more than they should over a two-year period.

Since the release of the first report, her office has sued a Connecticut-based energy supplier, reached settlements to refund customers with others, and filed legislation that would ban suppliers from negotiating contracts directly with consumers.

Read the full article on the Boston Globe