Eversource bills were the focal point of a recent Springfield City Council’s Maintenance and Development Subcommittee meeting in February.
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SPRINGFIELD — The Springfield City Council is continuing its fight against high utility costs that are negatively impacting residents all across the state.
During its regular meeting on April 7, the council approved a resolution that urges the state legislature and Department of Public Utilities to investigate recent increases in gas and electricity rates during a time when many people experienced unprecedented spikes in their utility bills over the winter.
The resolution also asks the legislature and DPU to further consider more relief and rate adjustments for Springfield residents facing financial hardships due to these higher costs.
“I think all of our residents deserve and should get some relief,” said Ward 5 City Councilor Lavar Click-Bruce, one of the initial sponsors of the resolution. “We are getting taxed tremendously and these times are uncertain.”
Although it was originally co-sponsored by Click-Bruce, At-Large City Councilor Tracye Whitfield and Ward 4 City Councilor Malo Brown, support for the resolution eventually permeated throughout the council. By the end of the conversation, every councilor was a co-sponsor, and the resolution was eventually approved unanimously.
The overwhelming support for this document illustrates the frustration councilors have had over Eversource’s price hikes over the last several months.
In a public meeting with the council’s Maintenance and Development committee and Eversource representatives, residents sounded off on their hardships caused by high utility rates during the winter, including the “astronomical delivery fee represented in their Eversource bills.”
Some said the delivery charge was almost double the actual gas charge, while others talked about how they had to lower the temperature in their house to lower the supply cost in their bills.
Immediately following the subcommittee meeting in Springfield, Eversource and National Grid proposed a 10% cut to Massachusetts gas bills for March and April just a few days after the Department of Public Utilities ordered energy companies to cut gas rates by 5%. However, those charges will be deferred to off-peak months, meaning bills will be slightly higher for that season, which begins in May.
In early March, Gov. Maura Healey introduced the Energy Affordability Agenda, which “identifies and advances actions” to reduce energy bills for Massachusetts residents by $220 million starting in April, including $125 million in savings to residential customers that month through a $50 credit on electricity bills. The initiative also asks the Department of Public Utilities to work to establish a first-in-the-nation moderate-income discount rate and expand tiered-income discount rates for lower-income customers.
“We need urgent action to bring down costs — and a plan to make sure price spikes don’t keep happening to our residents,” Healey said. “We will use every tool we have to help make sure families and businesses can afford to heat their homes and keep the lights on.”
More relief is still necessary, according to councilors, which is why they are sending the approved resolution to Healey, the DPU and the state legislature for “immediate review and consideration.”
Frustrations mounted even more during the April 8 meeting due to what councilors argue is neglect by Eversource to keep streetlights on in many of its neighborhoods.
Before reading the resolution into the record, Click-Bruce said that he observes about 15 to 30 streetlights out on any given night, a concern that he and other councilors argue creates a public safety issue across the city of Springfield.
To combat this problem, Click Bruce said that he will create a proposal that demands Eversource to not bill the city for streetlights that are out past three business days.
“If we have streetlights out that have been out for eight months, three months and probably 15 years, whatever the case may be, why are we still getting billed for that,” Click-Bruce said. “We have to, as a body, really put the pressure back on Eversource to do better and to come back to us with what they’re doing.”
Other councilors agreed with Click-Bruce sentiments, including Ward 6 Councilor Victor Davila, who said the city pays about $3.25 million a year for streetlights.
He argued that the city and its residents should not have to carry this burden if there is no effort to change the lights.
“We need to have light out there,” Davila said. “Summer hasn’t fully started yet, and we’ve already had several intensive shootings in the city. This is a problem.”
Ward 8 City Councilor Zaida Govan expressed frustration because she said she remembers having conversations 10 years ago about the number of inactive streetlights throughout the city.
“Ten years later, we’re still having this conversation,” Govan said. “I’m glad we’re going to do something about this. We need to hold Eversource accountable.”
According to DPW Director Chris Cignoli, Eversource has about 34 streetlights across the city that need luminaries changed out and about 19 underground feeds that need fixing.
“They’re dealing with over 80 locations, individual locations at this point that they’re going to be starting work on in the next couple of weeks, especially for the underground work,” Cignoli said, of the lights.
The DPW director added that Eversource is a little over 80% complete with a project that converts their lights to LEDs. Once that is complete sometime later this year, Cignoli said an audit on Eversource’s streetlights can be done throughout the city.
Council approves Eversource petitions
The council also approved 11 petitions that allow Eversource to make electrical upgrades and replace “aged” and “leak-prone” infrastructure across residential areas throughout the city.
“These projects are to replace that leak-prone pipe that, from Eversource’s risk perspective, has a leak history, is unreliable, and that’s the purpose for replacing the pipe,” said Keegan Richey, Eversource’s director of construction for Western Mass.
The vote comes a few weeks after the council’s Maintenance and Development committee, along with the Planning and Economic Development Committee, talked with Eversource representatives to find out more about these projects and how they affect residents.
“These projects … they really will serve the community,” said Brown, who chairs Maintenance and Development. “As far as where the issues were, was being able to be more transparent and providing the information in a timely manner so we can present it also to the public.”
To address transparency concerns, Richey said Eversource will provide all details around future projects, including scope, affected addresses, the timing of the project and the contractors Eversource will work with.
He said all of Eversource’s work for the rest of the year has been sent to Brown, and the company will continue to follow that process in future years.
Readers can learn more about the 11 Eversource petitions by visiting the council’s agenda: tinyurl.com/mtr4puxb.
