Department of Public Utilities Request For Comment - D.P.U. 24-15 Energy Burden Proceeding

The Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities (D.P.U.) opened this inquiry to reduce energy burden and improve energy affordability for residential customers, especially low-income households. In Phase I, the Department created a tiered low-income discount rate framework, and Phase II is focused on how to make that system work effectively in practice. This notice from MA D.P.U. is asking the public, advocates, and utility companies to comment on how Massachusetts should implement and improve the new low-income discount rate program in Phase II of D.P.U. 24-15, especially around enrollment, verification, outreach, documentation, and program administration.

Implementation questions include:

1. Whether self-attestation is worth the fraud risk compared with third-party verification;
2. How to measure whether the low-income discount rate program is succeeding;
3. How to simplify income verification and household-size reporting;
4. Whether Massachusetts should create a “one-stop shop” for discount enrollment;
5. How to simplify language and reduce paperwork;
6. How to improve outreach to renters, limited-English speakers, underserved communities, and customers without U.S. citizenship documentation;
7. How community action agencies should be funded; and
8. How eligibility and tier placement should be handled when records conflict or income changes.

The full D.P.U. 24-15 Memorandum can be found below.

Please submit any written comments as a PDF to [email protected] and [email protected], with docket number D.P.U. 24-15 included in the subject text, no later than 5:00 p.m. on April 21, 2026.