Advocates are calling out lawmakers for too little too late, even as Gov. Maura Healey and Attorney General Andrea Campbell both demanded the Department of Public Utilities and gas companies do more than offer a 5% rate cut for sky high heating bills fueled by delivery fees. 

"It's like an arsonist lighting your house on fire and then showing up at your door pretending to be the fireman, that's exactly what's happening in Massachusetts," said Paul Craney, Executive Director for the Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance. 

The governor released a statement, saying in part, "This is not good enough. Massachusetts residents are struggling with these high costs - the utilities need to go deeper than 5 percent and deferrals." 

But the Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance, which advocates for fiscal responsibility says lawmakers have been part of the problem by implementing mandates leading to soaring bills. Bills the organization foresees continuing to spike. 

"The best thing we can do is urge the governor and lawmakers to revoke these mandates," said Craney. "It's policies you're paying for, for the transition from natural gas to renewable energy. That's why I'm saying it's going to be the same thing next year, and the year after that, and the year after that, because as rate payers we're the ones funding this transition." 

In the fine print of the ordered rate cut, the DPU said the gas companies could later recoup the cost with interest. 

In a letter sent Friday, AG Campbell says the gas companies should absorb those costs instead, not just delay them. 

"Gas customers understandably have reacted with outrage to recent hikes in their gas bills, specifically to the delivery charge component of those bills, which includes a multitude of charges that not only escalate based on gas usage but also are impossible to understand for most customers," AG Campbell writes in the letter. "Each of these cost drivers must be reexamined with a critical eye toward energy affordability." 

Elijah DeSousa founder of Citizens Against Eversource and his group with more than 20,000 followers have been pushing for changes. 

"They're not giving us an outright rebate, we have to pay it back in a couple of months and they're hitting us with interest they're not doing anything except more lip service," said DeSousa. "This is not a discount, they're like the vultures circling a dead carcass when it comes to Massachusetts residents." 

Both Eversource and National Grid say they have resources to help families manage their bills like payment plans and financial assistance.

For instance, Eversource has in-person assistance events all over the state currently scheduled for the following communities and more will be scheduled in the coming days:

• Saturday, Feb. 22, Randolph Turner Library, Randolph, 2 p.m. - 3 p.m.
• Monday, Feb. 24, Boston Public Library - Roslindale Branch, Roslindale, 11 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.
• Tuesday, Mar. 4, Randolph Senior Center, Randolph, 11 a.m. - 12 p.m.
• Friday, Mar. 7, Pembroke Council on Aging, Pembroke, 10 a.m. - 1 p.m.
• Saturday, Mar. 8, Randolph Turner Library, Randolph, 2 p.m. - 3 p.m.
• Tuesday, Mar. 11, Attleboro Library, Attleboro, 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.
• Tuesday, Mar. 18, Raymond A. Jordan Senior Center, Springfield, 1 p.m. - 3 p.m.
• Wednesday, Mar. 19, Plymouth North High School, Plymouth, 6:30 p.m.
• Wednesday, Mar. 19, Uxbridge Senior Center, Uxbridge, 10:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.
• Tuesday, Mar. 25, Pulaski School, New Bedford, 6 p.m. - 8 p.m.