Massachusetts Electricity Deregulation

Massachusetts

You are eligible for a NO-OBLIGATION ELECTRICITY RATE ANALYSIS. Please download & print the Good Energy account usage release authorization form below, fill in the blanks and fax it back to us. We will contact you shortly after our receipt of your form to discuss your prospects for savings. If you would like to speak to someone immediately call us at (866) 955-2677 for a consultation.

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» Click here for general Massachusetts energy information including links to Massachusetts electricity deregulation resources.

Massachusetts electricity deregulation and retail access officially began back in March of 1998. The three participating utilities are NSTAR, (which is comprised of a merger of Boston Edison, Commonwealth Edison and Cambridge Edison), Mass Electric and Western Mass Electric. The DTE, (Department of Telecommunications and Energy), allowed customers to stay on a special discounted rate if they were receiving electric service prior to the introduction of electricity deregulation in Massachusetts.

On March 1st 2005, Massachusetts will do away with the Standard Offer Service (SOS) rate and customers on Standard Offer Service will be placed on Default Service, which is not a mandated fixed rate but a variable monthly rate that is susceptible to the changing market conditions and electric demands of the Northeast. Customers in Massachusetts should seriously consider looking at competitive fixed plans to combat any spikes and volatility in the electricity markets. Good Energy can implement those plans for your company and we are here to help with this process at no cost to you.

Today, if a consumer of power wishes to open a new commercial account in any of the above utility territories, the customer is automatically placed on the "Default Rate". The Default Rate is determined by the market price for blocks of power purchased by each individual utility every six months for individual rate classes. Hence, the Standard Rate does not apply to new accounts. Furthermore, those customers benefiting from the artificially low Standard Rate could be transferred to the Default Rate as a result of any changes made to an account including property sale or purchase, rate class changes due to changes in consumption or change of legal name. This gradual phase-out of the Standard Rate is in place to incentivize competition in MA.

There may be excellent opportunities for savings and budgetary certainty by shopping for a competitive third-party electricity supplier. Good Energy is here to help with this process.

Western Massachusetts Electric Co. (WMECO) offers a variety of programs and services that include rebates available for energy-efficient lighting improvements made by commercial and industrial customers with peak demand less than 350 kW. Inquire about how you can benefit from this and other possible utility-sponsored incentives while reducing your energy costs with Good Energy's lighting retrofit and other energy cost-reducing solutions. Call for more information. Toll free 866-955-2677.

  • The MA DTE approved fuel adjustment rate increases for standard offer rates by 1.23 cents per kWh for most customers of Massachusetts utilities effective August 1, 2001. Utilities submitted Standard Offer Fuel Adjustment Filings with the DTE requesting increases in standard offer rates to reflect the rising cost of fuel to generate electricity.
  • In June 2001, the MA DTE, seeking to boost customer participation in the open electricity market, issued an order for utilities to release, with customer approval, default customers' information to competitive suppliers. Suppliers may request names, addresses, and rate classes of default service customers.
  • March 1, 2000, marked the two-year anniversary of competition in the state. The Division of Energy Resources, which began tracking customer switches in April 1999, states that very few residential or business customers have switched suppliers. Of the 2.5 million business and residential customers, only about 9,000 have left their host utility for a competitive supplier. Another sign that the retail market is slowing down is that the number of licensed retailers has been decreasing in recent months. State officials say that deregulation was meant to evolve slowly but critics point to mistakes, such as low standard offers, and say they are hindering the retail markets.
  • Massachusetts started electric competition on March 1, 1998, and the DTE is achieving its near-term goal of a 10% rate cut for consumers. However, true competition among competitive suppliers has not yet begun. Even the most aggressive retail competitive suppliers are unwilling to match the present standard offer service (SOS) rate which began at 2.8 cents per kWh and had only risen to 3.7 cents per kWh as of July 1999.
  • New standard offer rates have been approved by the Department of Telecommunications and Energy (DTE) in attempt to help bolster competition. Effective January 1, 2000 Boston Edison's standard offer rate increased from 3.69 cents/kWh to 4.5 cents/kWh. Western Massachusetts Electric's rates increased from 3.1 cents/kWh to 4.557 cents/kWh. The rates for the other Massachusetts utilities are now at 3.8 cents/kwh.
  • 6/98: Customers in Massachusetts are beginning to sign up to purchase power from competitive suppliers.
  • 11/97: Restructuring legislation requires retail access by 3/98.