National Grid customers in Mass. say they can’t find promised bill cut
After a cold winter and soaring rates fueled eye-popping natural gas heating bills in Massachusetts, all of the state’s gas companies promised 10% cuts in March and April.However, National Grid customers said they can’t find that discount on this month’s bills because it’s not where the company says it is.”It tells you where it is, but when you go to where it tells you, it’s not there,” said Lee Selwyn. Selwyn is not just a National Grid gas customer; he’s also an MIT-trained economist with five decades of experience consulting on matters involving public utilities. He was shocked when he couldn’t easily find the promised 10% reduction on his March bill.”Utilities are very good at taking something that is simple and making it extremely complicated,” he said.The March National Grid bills appear to have several issues. First, they say the company is reducing “your delivery charges by 10% in March and April,” but according to filings with the Department of Public Utilities, the 10% cut is actually supposed to be across the entire bill, not just on the delivery side.The bigger problem, however, is National Grid says customers can find the discount in the “Other Charges/Adjustments” line. But there’s nothing there. On most bills, all customers find — if anything — is a 38 cent paperless billing credit. That’s left a lot of customers wondering if they got the discount at all.”Whoever wrote that paragraph was not talking to whoever was figuring out how they were going to issue the discount,” said Selwyn.One customer says her concerns were reinforced when she called National Grid about the discount, only to be told by a customer service agent that her bill — which included 24 days of March — was not technically her March bill, so she wouldn’t get the discount until her next bill.National Grid says the discount is reflected in all bills sent in March, but it’s actually found under “Distribution Adjustment.” That rate was around 66 cents on previous bills but was lowered in March to incorporate the discount. On Selwyn’s bill, the rate was dropped to 43 cents, making his bill total $646 instead of $712. That’s a reduction of around $66, or just under 10%.Selwyn thinks National Grid owes it to its customers to make this more clear, especially since the company plans to recover the money in bills this summer.”I had difficulty imagining that they did it in such a convoluted way,” he said. “No one’s going to be able to figure this out by themselves.”In a statement, a National Grid spokesman said all eligible gas customers received the appropriate bill reduction in March, although the company will clarify how the discount is being delivered when customers receive April bills. National Grid has also sent emails and posted online about the discount, more clearly pointing to the “Distribution Adjustment” line.
After a cold winter and soaring rates fueled eye-popping natural gas heating bills in Massachusetts, all of the state’s gas companies promised 10% cuts in March and April.
However, National Grid customers said they can’t find that discount on this month’s bills because it’s not where the company says it is.
“It tells you where it is, but when you go to where it tells you, it’s not there,” said Lee Selwyn. Selwyn is not just a National Grid gas customer; he’s also an MIT-trained economist with five decades of experience consulting on matters involving public utilities. He was shocked when he couldn’t easily find the promised 10% reduction on his March bill.
“Utilities are very good at taking something that is simple and making it extremely complicated,” he said.
The March National Grid bills appear to have several issues. First, they say the company is reducing “your delivery charges by 10% in March and April,” but according to filings with the Department of Public Utilities, the 10% cut is actually supposed to be across the entire bill, not just on the delivery side.
The bigger problem, however, is National Grid says customers can find the discount in the “Other Charges/Adjustments” line. But there’s nothing there. On most bills, all customers find — if anything — is a 38 cent paperless billing credit. That’s left a lot of customers wondering if they got the discount at all.
“Whoever wrote that paragraph was not talking to whoever was figuring out how they were going to issue the discount,” said Selwyn.
One customer says her concerns were reinforced when she called National Grid about the discount, only to be told by a customer service agent that her bill — which included 24 days of March — was not technically her March bill, so she wouldn’t get the discount until her next bill.
National Grid says the discount is reflected in all bills sent in March, but it’s actually found under “Distribution Adjustment.” That rate was around 66 cents on previous bills but was lowered in March to incorporate the discount. On Selwyn’s bill, the rate was dropped to 43 cents, making his bill total $646 instead of $712. That’s a reduction of around $66, or just under 10%.
Selwyn thinks National Grid owes it to its customers to make this more clear, especially since the company plans to recover the money in bills this summer.
“I had difficulty imagining that they did it in such a convoluted way,” he said. “No one’s going to be able to figure this out by themselves.”
In a statement, a National Grid spokesman said all eligible gas customers received the appropriate bill reduction in March, although the company will clarify how the discount is being delivered when customers receive April bills. National Grid has also sent emails and posted online about the discount, more clearly pointing to the “Distribution Adjustment” line.