As part of a prior settlement agreement with the Attorney General of Massachusetts, WMECo agreed to file a new rate design aimed at aligning customer distribution rates closer to equalized rates of return.  The change in distribution rates coincided with a permanent reduction in one of the Company’s reconciling mechanisms that allowed for the increase in distribution rates of some customers without an overall increase in their total bill.  The need for a distribution rate realignment was due to the Company’s prior base rate proceeding in which rates were set for some customers below equalized rates of return leading to cross-subsidization between classes.  