Stop the Outrageous Liberty Rate Hike!
NOTE: The Department has now closed the ability for the public to comment at this time. If you sent a letter, we will keep you updated as the case proceeds. Thank you!
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Do you pay an energy bill to Liberty Gas? They want to increase our bills to pay for expensive methane gas pipelines that we don't need. They continue to make record profits while people live paycheck to paycheck.
What’s happening?
Liberty Gas is seeking to raise our gas rates by 55%, with increases as high as 81%. The company is asking the state to approve this hike to recover millions on excessive pipeline spending and to boost shareholder profits.
Why?
Excessive profits
For-profit Massachusetts gas utility corporations make a premium on the infrastructure (like pipelines) they build and operate, earning a 9 - 10% rate of return (known as ROE) for their shareholders – above the industry average. Liberty Gas is asking the state to approve a 9.9 ROE. If approved, it would be the highest one in Massachusetts in the past six years.
Meanwhile, Liberty Gas’s parent company, Canadian conglomerate Algonquin Power, reported over $232 million in profits last year. Massachusetts families shouldn’t have to pay higher bills just to pad utility profits.
Reckless Pipeline Spending
Liberty is hiding capital costs (like pipelines) and profits in vague “delivery” charges, making it hard to see what you’re really paying. The outdated GSEP program encourages expensive pipeline replacements over simple repairs, driving up bills without real safety or consumer benefits. In 2023 alone, over half of the $1.5 billion spent by gas utilities on capital spending went to GSEP.
How does it impact you?
Fall River heating customers using 100 therms of gas per month could pay $473 more to deliver gas to their home each winter. In Blackstone, these customers could pay $620 more each winter.
By baking in the cost of methane gas pipeline replacements into obscure ‘delivery’ charges on customer bills, Liberty Gas would hide the true cost of gas capital spending, keeping customers in the dark about how their money is being spent.
What can we do?
The state’s Department of Public Utilities has the power to review and approve the rate hike. They need to →
Rein in reckless pipeline spending
Lower outrageous profits
Accelerate our transition from expensive gas to clean, affordable heating
Protect people from shutoffs
Send a comment letter! You can also comment at a public hearing:
