Utility Consumer Protections & Bill Payment Assistance Archives

Full File Utility Credit Reporting: Harms to Low-Income Consumers

June 12, 2013

One of the efforts to promote alternative credit data urges that utility companies engage in monthlyreporting of customer payments, including late payments, to the Big Three nationwide credit reportingagencies (CRAs), Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. Currently, the vast majority of electric and naturalgas utility companies only report to those three CRAs when a seriously delinquent account…

Utility Help in Massachusetts

March 13, 2025

Listing of resources to help Massachusetts consumers.

Apply Now for up to $30 a Month for Broadband Service with the Affordable Connectivity Program

February 22, 2022

What is the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP)? ACP is a broadband benefit program for low-income households. ACP provides eligible households with a discount of up to $30 a month to lower the cost of broadband service (and up to $75 a month for low-income households on Tribal lands). Some internet providers also offer an ACP…

Still No Relief for Massachusetts Consumers Tricked by Competitive Electric Supply Companies

From August 1, 2017 through July 31, 2018, the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities (DPU) reported receiving approximately 832 complaints about competitive energy supply companies. Consumers reported aggressive and deceptive marketing practices targeting vulnerable consumers, as well as excessively high electric bills and difficulty cancelling contracts with energy suppliers. These complaints echo the same problems…

Report: Lean and Green - The Massachusetts Low-Income Energy Affordability Network (LEAN)

November 10, 2014

The Massachusetts Low-Income Energy Affordability Network (LEAN) is an association of nonprofit agencies that coordinate the delivery of government and utility-funded energy efficiency services to low-income utility customers throughout Massachusetts. Since 1997, LEAN’s member agencies have delivered energy efficiency upgrades to more than 100,000 low-income Massachusetts households. Still, up to 200,000 low-income homes still need…

Helping Low-Income Utility Customers Manage Overdue Bills through Arrearage Management Programs (AMP)

September 17, 2013

Across the country, low-income customers struggle to pay their utility bills. Their incomes are simply too low to keep up with gas and electric bills. Fortunately, Massachusetts has one of the strongest panoplies of low-income programs and policies in the country to make sure low-income households can maintain critical utility services. These programs include protections…

How Victims of Crime and Domestic Violence Survivors in Massachusetts Can Receive Discounted Voice and Data Service through the Federal Lifeline Program

May 1, 2019

For crime victims or domestic violence survivors, a phone can be a lifeline to police protection, emergency service, medical assistance, legal help, and support services and networks. But many lose phone service or have difficulty affording it because of financial disruption, separation, or relocation.

Innovative State Actions on Residential Utility Bill Payment Protections During COVID-19 & Beyond

September 16, 2020

Voluntary and mandatory moratoriums on utility shut-offs adopted in response to the COVID-19 pandemic have expired or will soon expire in states across the country. Utility regulators and other policymakers must act now to require more flexible and generous utility bill payment practices in order to avoid a tidal wave of terminations of essential utility…

Massachusetts Residential Utility Customers Still Owe Nearly $100M More in Arrears than at the Start of the Pandemic

February 15, 2022

This issue brief updates two reports the National Consumer Law Center (NCLC) previously released in February and November 2021 analyzing arrearage data reported by Massachusetts electric and gas companies to the Department of Public Utilities in docket 20-58.2 While, overall, utility customers are in a somewhat improved position compared to the summer of 2021, over…

Electric Service Discount and Arrearage Management Program Design Template

April 14, 2020

As the health, safety, and economic impacts of the Covid-19 crisis become increasingly clear, the need to universally adopt programs and policies that enhance the affordability of necessary utility service is also highlighted. To win approval of programs and policies to enhance secure access to home energy services, advocates must “make the case” for program…

COVID-Driven Utility Arrearages: Implications for Policy in Massachusetts and the Nation

February 23, 2021

The COVID-19 crisis placed millions of Americans in financial peril, hitting households of color particularly hard. In response, moratoriums on utility shutoffs were instituted in many states across the country to protect customers from the immediate danger of termination. However, some states’ moratoriums have already expired, or, were never instituted in the first place, meaning…

Protecting Seriously Ill Consumers from Utility Disconnections: What States Can Do to Save Lives Now

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Each year, millions of utility customers have their service terminated for non-payment. Many of those are low-income households in which someone is seriously ill. In extreme cases, termination of service to those households has led to death. Much more frequently, loss of electric or gas service makes existing illnesses or conditions worse. Utility…

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