ENERGY INSIGHT
The $1.5 Billion Refund Covers One Line on Your Bill. Who Checks the Rest?
New England utilities owe customers an estimated $1.5 billion for transmission overcharges, and none of the announcements asks customers to apply for their share. But the refund covers one part of your bill, and it is happening only because regulators forced it. The rest of your bill is still yours to check.
Here is what the refund is, the two decisions it calls for, and where businesses usually find the bigger money.
What the refund is
In March 2026, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) cut the return New England’s transmission owners are allowed to earn and ordered them to refund what customers overpaid. On October 13, Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey estimated the total owed across New England at $1.5 billion and asked Eversource, National Grid and Unitil to pay it now, rather than wait for FERC’s deadline of May 20, 2027.
The utilities calculate the refund, and Eversource says it will be returned to customers through their individual bills. The Governor asked them to explain by October 27 how much Massachusetts customers are owed, when they will be paid and how. No company-specific amounts have been published yet.
Two decisions to make now
- Do not pay anyone to claim it. None of the announcements asks customers to apply or file anything. Be wary of offers to “recover” this refund for a fee.
- Do not budget it. Until your utility shows an amount on your account, it is not money you can plan around.
Regulators forced this refund. Nobody is forcing a review of the rest of your bill.
Where the bigger money usually is
The refund covers transmission charges only. It does not touch the parts of a bill where businesses more often overpay:
- An account billed on the wrong tariff or rate class
- Billing errors, duplicate charges or charges that do not match your contract
- Demand charges triggered by a short peak
- A supply contract that expired, rolled over or was signed at a bad time
Regulators do not catch those. A bill audit and tariff review does: checking each bill for accuracy, against your contract, and against the tariff that should apply. When the wrong tariff was applied, past overcharges may be recoverable. Each case needs review, and how far back you can go, and how much you get back, depends on your state and your utility’s rules. With many locations, start with your largest accounts.
Nadicent perspective
A refund headline is a good moment to ask a simpler question: when were our utility bills last audited and our tariffs reviewed? Nadicent helps with all three parts of your energy cost: buy it right, with supply procurement and contracts bid across multiple energy suppliers; pay it right, with bill audits and tariff reviews; and reduce your demand, with engineering that optimizes how your sites use energy.
When were our utility bills last audited and our tariffs reviewed?
