Utility Bills To Increase This Winter: Here's How Much More You'll Pay In CT

CONNECTICUT — Though supply rates will be going down this winter, Connecticut residents will likely see a slight increase to their electricity bills in the colder months.

Connecticut's two major utilities — Eversource Energy and United Illuminating — made separate announcements Friday. The Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority must still approve the new supply rates.

In Connecticut, the energy supply price changes twice a year – January 1 and July 1.

Eversource

Eversource officials said as energy market volatility continues, customers can expect to pay less this winter than in 2022-23 on the supply portion of their bills. Energy prices hit "historic highs" in New England last year, due to international factors that affect the seasonal cost of natural gas, which is used to produce roughly half of New England’s electricity, utility officials said.

On Friday, the energy company filed new electric supply prices from power generators with the Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority that would be 39 percent lower than last winter. If approved, the new Standard Service rate for residential customers who receive their energy supply from Eversource will be 14.71cents per kWh – significantly lower than last winter's supply rate of 24.17 cents per kWh.

It is a slight increase from the current summer rate of 13.82 cents per kilowatt-hour. If approved by PURA, the new Standard Service Rate would be in effect from January 1 to June 30, 2024.

Eversource does not earn a profit on the cost of electricity. The company charges customers what it pays generators for producing the power and there is no markup, officials said.

Officials added that customers' total bills will depend on how much energy is used, their rate category, and weather conditions. If the proposed Standard Service rate is approved by PURA, on average, an Eversource residential electric customer who uses 700 kilowatt hours of power each month could see an increase of about 3.2 percent over their current monthly bill – approximately $6.24 per month – on the supply portion of the bill, officials said.

United Illuminating

According to UI's Friday PURA filing, customers will pay 17.06 cents per kilowatt-hour in supply charges on their monthly electric bill from January 1 through June 30, 2024. That represents a nearly 20 percent decrease and $34 in monthly savings as compared to the same period last year for the average customer, when electricity supply charges were 21.94 cents per kilowatt-hour.

Per Connecticut law, UI is mandated to procure energy supply on behalf of its customers under the oversight of the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority's statutorily appointed Procurement Manager and pass through those costs to customers at no profit or markup.

Because Connecticut, along with all the New England states except Vermont, deregulated electricity supply in 1998, UI does not own electricity generation facilities and does not have a role in its price. To determine the price of its standard service offering, UI purchases, or procures, electricity at the market rate from generating companies and passes it on to customers with no mark-up or profit. This procurement process is actively overseen by PURA and takes place in six tranches throughout the year to balance swings in the market.

Winter supply rates are customarily higher than summer supply rates, a trend that holds this year as rates will increase slightly on Jan. 1 from a current rate of 14.33 cents per kilowatt-hour. The winter increase is primarily due to constrained fuel supply, UI officials said.

Much of New England’s electricity generation is currently fueled by natural gas and supplemented by fuel oil during the coldest periods, and many customers across the region also utilize natural gas for residential and commercial heating. The high demand requires supplemental fuel supplies of imported Liquefied Natural Gas and fuel oil in the colder months, all of which drives up the cost of electric generation, UI officials said.

That puts the bill at $19.31 more per month for the average 700 kW/h customer, UI officials said.