Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities: NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING AND REQUEST FOR COMMENTS

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING AND REQUEST FOR COMMENTS

D.P.U. 24-98 July 19, 2024

Petition of Boston Gas Company d/b/a National Grid for Approval of a Mid-Term Modification to its 2022-2024 Three-Year Energy Efficiency Plan. ____________________________________________________________________________

On June 24, 2024, Boston Gas Company d/b/a National Grid (“Company”) filed a petition with the Department of Public Utilities (“Department”) seeking approval of a mid-term modification to its 2022-2024 Three-Year Energy Efficiency Plan (“Three-Year Plan”), which was filed in D.P.U. 21-124 and approved by the Department in 2022-2024 Three-Year Energy Efficiency Plans, D.P.U. 21-120 through D.P.U. 21-129 (2022). The Department docketed this matter as D.P.U. 24-98.

The Company proposes to modify its Three-Year Plan to increase its Department-approved energy efficiency budget in the Residential and Income-Eligible sectors. On May 30, 2024, the Department approved a settlement of a prior mid-term modification request that: (1) increased the Company’s energy efficiency budgets for the Residential and Income-Eligible sectors; and (2) decreased the Company’s energy efficiency budget for the Commercial and Industrial (“C&I”) sector. Boston Gas Company, D.P.U. 23-155, Stamp-Approved Initial Filing. In the instant docket, the Company seeks to increase the budgets: (1) for its Residential New Buildings program, by $3,542,732 (or 34 percent); (2) for its Residential Existing Buildings program by $28,106,597 (or 21 percent); (3) for its Residential Hard-to-Measure program by $2,827,891 (or 35 percent); and (4) for its Income Eligible Existing Buildings program, by $53,400,461 (or 46 percent).

The Company maintains that the proposed increase in the Residential New Buildings program budget is driven by unexpectedly high performance in the planned number of energy efficient homes and incentives compared to 2023. The Company maintains that the proposed increase in the Residential Existing Buildings program budget is primarily driven primarily by higher than anticipated demand for heat pumps and also due to costs attributed to the development of a statewide call center. The Company attributes the proposed increase in the Residential Hard-to-Measure program budget to: (1) greater-than-expected customer demand for Mass Save HEAT Loans, including by municipal light plant customers; and (2) higher than anticipated interest rates. Finally, the Company maintains that the proposed increase for the Income-Eligible Existing Buildings program budget is driven by: (1) an increase in the number of planned projects generated by a new lead vendor; (2) the addition of new program measures; (3) increased demand for heat pumps; and (4) increased costs for barrier mitigation measures. 

If the Department approves the budget increases as proposed for this latest mid-term modification, the Company states that customers will experience the following additional bill impacts:

• A residential customer (R-3) in the Boston Gas service area using 106 therms of gas per month in the winter will experience a monthly bill increase of $10.63 (4.4 percent).
• A low-income residential assistance (R-4) customer in the Boston Gas service area using 110 therms of gas per month in the winter will experience a monthly bill increase of $7.58 (4.4 percent).
• A residential customer (R-3) in the former Colonial Gas Company service area using 106 therms of gas per month in the winter will experience a monthly bill increase of $9.77 (4.8 percent).
• A low-income residential assistance (R-4) customer in the former Colonial Gas Company service area using 103 therms of gas per month in the winter will experience a monthly bill increase of $7.13 (4.8 percent).
• Bill impacts for C&I customers will vary. These customers should contact the Company for specific bill impact information.

The Department will conduct a public hearing to receive comments on the Company’s petition on Tuesday, August 6, 2024, beginning at 2:00 p.m. The hearing will be virtual and use Zoom videoconferencing. Attendees can join the public meeting by entering the link, https://us06web.zoom.us/j/82616248745, from a computer, smartphone, or tablet. No prior software download is required. For audio-only access to the public hearing, attendees can dial in at (646) 558-8656 or (309) 205-3325 (not toll free) and then enter the Meeting ID# 826 1624 8745. If you anticipate providing comments via Zoom during the public hearing, please send an email by Friday, August 2, 2024, to elizabeth.c.mcnamara@mass.gov with your name, email address, and mailing address.

Any person interested in commenting on this matter may submit written comments no later than the close of business (5:00 p.m.) on Tuesday, August 6, 2024. Please note that in the interest of transparency any comments will be posted to our website as received and without redacting personal information, such as addresses, telephone numbers, or email addresses. Therefore, consider the extent of information you wish to share when submitting comments. The Department strongly encourages public comments to be submitted by email using the methods described below. If, however, a member of the public is unable to send written comments by email, a paper copy may be sent to Mark D. Marini, Secretary, Department of Public Utilities, One South Station, Boston, Massachusetts, 02110.

Any person who desires to participate otherwise in the evidentiary phase of this proceeding shall file a petition for leave to intervene no later than 5:00 p.m. on Friday, August 2, 2024. A petition for leave to intervene must satisfy the timing and substantive requirements of 220 CMR 1.03. Receipt by the Department constitutes filing and determines D.P.U. 24-98 Page 3 whether a petition has been timely filed. A petition filed late may be disallowed as untimely, unless good cause is shown for waiver under 220 CMR 1.01(4). To be allowed, a petition under 220 CMR 1.03(1) must satisfy the standing requirements of G.L. c. 30A, § 10. All responses to petitions to intervene must be filed by the close of business (5:00 p.m.) on the second business day after the petition to intervene was filed.

To the extent a person or entity wishes to submit comments or a petition to intervene in accordance with this Notice, electronic submission is sufficient. All documents must be submitted to the Department in .pdf format by e-mail attachment to dpu.efiling@mass.gov and elizabeth.c.mcnamara@mass.gov. The text of the e-mail must specify: (1) the docket number of the proceeding (D.P.U. 24-98); (2) the name of the person or company submitting the filing; and (3) a brief descriptive title of the document. In addition, a copy of all comments or petitions to intervene should be sent to the Company’s attorney, Christopher Tuomala, Esq., at Christopher.Tuomala@nationalgrid.com. All documents submitted in electronic format will be posted on the Department’s website through our online File Room as soon as practicable (enter “24-98”) at: https://eeaonline.eea.state.ma.us/DPU/Fileroom/dockets/bynumber.

To request materials in accessible formats for people with disabilities (Braille, large print, electronic files, audio format), contact the Department’s ADA coordinator at andrea.r.casul@mass.gov.

For further information regarding the Company’s filing, please contact the Company’s attorneys, identified above. For further information regarding this Notice, please contact Elizabeth McNamara, Hearing Officer, Department of Public Utilities, at elizabeth.c.mcnamara@mass.gov.