BOSTON, April 6, 2026, 3:18 PM (EDT)
National Grid plc faces fresh scrutiny in Massachusetts on Monday, with regulators set to hear public comment in Lynn later in the day on a proposal to raise gas delivery charges across parts of the state it serves. If approved, the filing would add about $24 a month to a typical winter heating bill in greater Boston and central Massachusetts and about $25 a month in Cape Cod and parts of the Merrimack Valley. 1
The hearing is one of the last public sessions before the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities decides by Nov. 30 whether to approve the filing. New rates would be billed from Jan. 1, 2027 if regulators sign off. The request covers only the distribution charge — the part of the bill that pays for pipes and the delivery network — not the gas commodity price or state-program charges. 1
Boston Gas Company, doing business as National Grid, is seeking roughly $342 million in additional revenue. After shifting about $198 million tied to earlier gas-system enhancement spending into base rates, the net increase would be about $144 million, or roughly 12% more distribution revenue, a Department of Public Utilities notice said. 2
The utility also wants a five-year performance-based ratemaking plan, which would let it adjust base rates each year under a revenue-cap formula that factors in inflation. The attorney general’s office has intervened and asked regulators to approve up to $600,000 for outside experts and consultants, costs that the notice said may also be recovered in the company’s rates. 2
National Grid says the filing is meant to pay for older infrastructure, cyber protections, local property taxes and extra staffing tied to tighter safety rules. About one-third of its 3,600 miles of gas mains in Massachusetts were installed before 1970, the company said, and it is also proposing a fixed monthly distribution charge and broader discounts for income-eligible customers. 1
“National Grid’s gas rate case advances the safety and reliability of our system,” Lisa Wieland, president of National Grid New England, said in a January investor presentation. National Grid said it has replaced more than 600 miles of aged infrastructure and invested $3.9 billion in system reinforcement, liquefied natural gas asset work and mandated safety upgrades since the last gas rate case was approved in 2021. 3
The bill effects would not fall evenly. For low-income residential customers, impacts could range from increases of 17% to 20% to decreases of as much as 65%, depending on income tier, while some commercial and industrial customers could see monthly bills fall 37.5% or rise 37.8%, the filing showed. 2
The case is also feeding into a wider fight over what utilities can charge back to customers in Massachusetts. State senators are considering legislation that would bar companies from passing the legal and consulting costs of rate cases back to customers. The debate reaches peer Eversource as well, and Charlie Spatz of the Energy Policy Institute told WBUR many consumers do not realize they are paying for “very expensive attorneys” and consultants in these proceedings. 4
There is risk on both sides of that argument. Governor Maura Healey has said she opposes a broad-based National Grid gas rate increase. But Jamie Van Nostrand, a former chairman of the Massachusetts DPU, said a blanket ban on recovering those expenses is “not good policy” and could make the state look less predictable to credit agencies, pushing up utilities’ borrowing costs. 5
National Grid plc, based in London, operates electricity networks in Great Britain and gas and power businesses in the U.S. Northeast. After Monday’s Lynn session, remaining Massachusetts hearings are scheduled for Acton on April 9, a virtual session on April 13 and Boston on April 15, with written comments due by April 30. 6
