National Grid postpones meeting with Quincy residents about winter utility bills
QUINCY − A meeting with representatives of National Grid, the city's electric company, has been postponed to Thursday, March 9. Originally scheduled for this week, the meeting is meant for customers who are struggling with their utility bills this winter.
"National Grid recognizes that rising energy costs have created challenges for many customers, and we’ve been holding these in-person events around the state to help customers manage their bills, get help and more," John Lamontagne, a spokesperson for National Grid, said in an email. "These events have been an opportunity for customers to come in, ask questions about their bill, see if they may be eligible for a discount, potentially connect with a community action program who can assist customers line up bill assistance and set up budget billing programs."
The meeting will take place from 4 to 7 p.m. March 9 at the Quincy Council on Aging, 440 E Squantum St.
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Massachusetts energy officials started warning residents in September that the cost of heating their homes and keeping the lights on was likely to skyrocket this winter as the price of natural gas soars.
Residential National Grid electric customers on basic service who use 600 kilowatt-hours of power were told they'd see their monthly electric bills jump from $179 in the winter 2021-22 season to about $293 for the winter 2022-23 season – a 64% increase – according to the company and its rate filing with the state Department of Public Utilities.
About half of New England's electric generation is powered by natural gas or liquid natural gas, commodities that are sold on the global market and subject to its whims.
At the time, National Grid announced that many of its electricity customers were going to get eye-popping bills this winter thanks to the price of natural gas being "significantly higher this winter due to global conflict, inflation and high demand."
Information from the State House News Service was used in this report.
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This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Meeting about high National Grid utility bills postponed to March 9
