April 10, 2023 — Issue Brief

The National Consumer Law Center has compiled Massachusetts gas and electric arrearage data collected in DPU docket 20-58 through February 2023. Here we provide a brief update to previous reports released in February 2021, November 2021, and November 2022 on the state of arrears in MA. As of April 1, the winter moratorium that protects discount rate residential customers from disconnection has expired, leaving over 800,000 residential households, particularly the more than 400,000 customers more than 90 days behind, at risk for termination. While data presented here is only through February 2023, we can assume that arrears have continued to grow since then. Based on past trends, we fear that we will see a higher level of arrears this year than at any point during the pandemic.