BOSTON — State Sen. Brendan Crighton (D-Lynn), Attorney General Maura Healey and state Rep. Frank Moran (D-Lawrence) filed legislation earlier this year that would ban competitive suppliers of electricity from signing up new individual residential customers in Massachusetts.

On Monday, Healey released a report that urged passing the proposed legislation.

The report found that in the last five years, individual residential customers who received electricity from competitive suppliers paid $426 million more than they would have if they had remained with their utility companies.

About 450,000 individual residential customers in the state who are currently enrolled with competitive suppliers lost $173 million in the most recent two years of data examined in the report.

“This report details the dishonest marketing and unfair contracts being used by competitive

electric suppliers to take advantage of low-income ratepayers in gateway cities like Lynn,” said Crighton. “The legislation that I filed in partnership with Attorney General Healey and Representative Moran would put an end to these deceptive practices employed by these companies to prey on low-income consumers and those with limited English proficiency.”

Healey’s report showed that individual non-low-income customers who receive their

electricity from competitive electric suppliers lose an average of $194 annually, while low-income customers lose an average of $241 annually.

“Our report shows that these companies continue to drain millions from communities across our state, and worse, our most vulnerable neighbors are being hit hardest in the midst of a deadly pandemic,” Healey said.

The report also found the consumer losses in this market to be disproportionately borne by residents in zip codes with a higher concentration of low-income residents and residents of color in many of the state’s gateway cities, including Lynn, Lawrence, Worcester, Fall River, Lowell, and Brockton.

“For far too long, competitive supplier industries have taken advantage of the most vulnerable

constituents in our commonwealth,” said Moran.

The report follows up findings from Healey’s first report on the individual residential competitive electric supply industry in Massachusetts, which was released three years ago, and a subsequent one released in 2019.

Any resident with concerns about deceptive marketing practices should file a complaint with Healey’s office or call the consumer hotline at 617-727-8400. Residents with questions can also contact the Consumer Division of the Department of Public Utilities at 877-886-5066.

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