Massachusetts Governor Healey, AG Campbell, announce New England ratepayers to receive nearly $1 billion energy refund, future savings of $100 million annually 

BOSTON – Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey and Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell have announced in a release the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s order to cut New England transmission owners’ allowed return on equity, the profits earned on transmission investments in the region. If upheld, this order will result in a refund of an estimated $900 million to New England ratepayers and more than $100 million in savings per year going forward. 

“People’s energy costs are far too high, and we fought for a long time in this case to lower people’s bills,” said Governor Healey. “This decision makes clear that utilities should not be allowed to make exorbitant profits on the backs of ratepayers, and that those profits should go back in people’s pockets where it belongs. I am going to continue to oppose big rate increases to lower people’s bills.” 

“As Massachusetts’ ratepayer advocate, my role is to ensure that utility rates are just and reasonable and that consumers are not paying more than they should,” said AG Campbell. “This decision reflects years of work to challenge excessive transmission profits and deliver meaningful relief. My office will continue to hold utility companies accountable and push for greater oversight to protect residents from unjustified and unreasonable costs.” 

“Transmission costs are one of the fastest growing components of our electricity bills,” said Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Rebecca Tepper. “We have been pushing for FERC to cut transmission profits and institute greater oversight for several years. This is a landmark decision by FERC that will result in real savings for families and businesses now and in the future. We’re going to keep fighting to lower people’s energy bills.” 

FERC’s order, issued on March 19th, cut the ROE that transmission owners can earn on their transmission investments in New England, cutting down on costs for ratepayers going forward while also reducing the incentive to overbuild the transmission system. Due to the length of the proceeding, FERC also required transmission owners to issue refunds reflective of the lower ROE, estimated to be about $900 million in total to New England ratepayers. The cut to transmission owners’ ROE will result in more than $100 million in estimated savings per year going forward. Massachusetts customers represent roughly half of all New England ratepayers. FERC will need to determine the timeline and mechanics for the refund, and the AGO stands ready to work with federal regulators, utility companies, and other stakeholders to advocate that refunds are delivered as quickly as possible. 

The decision follows more than a decade long proceeding before FERC led by the AGO, along with a coalition of New England state attorneys general, utility commissions and consumer advocates. The case began in 2011 when the AGO-led coalition filed a complaint challenging New England transmission owners’ ROE. The case argued that owners’ costs, which are passed onto ratepayers, were excessive. 

Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell and her office states that AG Campbell saved Massachusetts consumers approximately $2.11 billion in utility costs during the 2025 fiscal year. 

Transmission service, which is overseen by FERC, includes the poles and wires that deliver large volumes of electricity from generating resources to substations that serve local distribution systems to which homes and business are connected. Building transmission can be an important affordable strategy to deliver power from one region to another, but strong oversight is needed to control costs, particularly the utility profit portion of those costs.  

The joint release states that transmission costs are rising, driven in part by incumbent transmission owners increased spending on so-called asset condition projects that replace or refurbish aging or damaged transmission infrastructure. In 2023 and 2024, Massachusetts and the other New England states secured agreements from the region’s transmission owners to bring greater visibility and transparency to the planning process for asset condition projects. In 2025, in response to calls from the New England states, consumer advocates, and other stakeholders in the region, ISO New England agreed to provide an independent review of asset condition projects to foster greater oversight and scrutiny of asset condition project spending. Work is underway now to develop a robust asset condition reviewer function at ISO New England. In addition, Governor Healey’s Energy Affordability, Independence, and Innovation Act gives the state’s Energy Facilities Siting Board the authority to review large-scale asset condition projects to ensure developers have justified the need and explored all alternatives before proceeding with a project.