Connecticut Has 6th Highest Utility Costs: Report

CONNECTICUT — While taxes and tolls were busy stealing all the headlines and sucking out all the oxygen, the state's average utility bills have quietly become the 6th most expensive in the nation.

Move.org researchers set out to learn what utility costs are from state to state, and Connecticut topped the list just behind Hawaii, Florida, South Carolina, Alabama and Georgia. On the average, residents of the Nutmeg State can expect to pay $440.03 per month when totaling their electricity, gas, water, cable and internet bills every month.

As part of their reckoning, researchers made allowances for the variety of climates among the studied states as well as myriad energy costs. "That's why we looked into the average utility costs in individual states," researchers wrote.

Here's how the average monthly utilities hit breaks out in Connecticut:

• Electricity: $139.97
• Natural gas: $84.67
• Water: $70.39
• Internet: $60
• Cable: $85

In truth, there was little variance in the average water, cable and internet bills nationwide; it's the electricity and gas fees that move the needle. The average of 20 cents per kilowatt hour of juice makes electricity in Connecticut just plain expensive, period. But couple that with the size of many of our houses, and it's a recipe for high power bills.

If you're mulling the idea of moving to another state but want to crunch the numbers beforehand, you might want to check how much people pay for utilities there. For planning purposes, researchers advise you skip down in their report to the section on utility costs in different states.

If you are dead set on getting ahead of your bills, head to New Mexico, where the total average is the nation's lowest at $344.55, according to the report. "While residents of many states have slightly lower gas bills, none have electricity bills that can rival New Mexico's for affordability," researchers wrote.

Hawaii has a lot going for it, but reasonable utility bills are not on that list. The average monthly electricity hit is $587.79, according to the findings. As high as that seems, it's not even the state's highest average utility bill. That dubious honor goes to Hawaii's average gas bill, which costs a little over $223 a month, and is the highest average gas bill in the US, according to the report. Together, these utilities mean the average Hawaiian pays more each month for utilities than residents of any other state. Paradise has its price.

Here's a look at the average monthly utility costs in the U.S. overall:

• Electricity: $110.76
• Natural gas: $72.10
• Water: $70.3.
• Cable TV: $85
• Internet: $60

The report's authors broke down their methodology:

• "For electricity bill costs, we got average electricity consumption figures and pricing information from the U.S. Energy Information Administration."
• "For natural gas bill costs, we found average gas usage and prices from TECO Energy."
• "We based our internet and cable pricing information on research from the Leichtman Research Group as reported by USA Today."
• "To calculate water bill costs, we first found residential water usage information from Circle of Blue, then tracked down how much water costs from a separate Circle of Blue study."
• "The sum of these utilities make up our averages for each state's total utility costs per month. States were ranked solely based on how much utilities cost their residents each month on average. Other factors were not considered for our rankings."