Why Is My National Grid or Eversource Bill So High?

If your National Grid or Eversource bill made you look twice, you're not alone. Bay Staters pay over 85% more for electricity than the national average, and rates have risen about 50% in the last five years.

The good news is that a Massachusetts bill follows a set pattern. Once you know what each line pays for, you can tell why yours went up and which parts you can bring down.

What are the two halves of a Massachusetts electric bill?

Every National Grid and Eversource bill in Massachusetts splits into two parts. Supply is the electricity itself, bought from power plants. Delivery is everything it takes to get that electricity to your outlets, plus a fixed monthly fee and a few state program charges.

Most people assume the power is the big expense. On the sample bill we break down on our Massachusetts solar incentives page, it isn't. Charges such as the customer charge and the energy efficiency charge make up 57% of the bill. Local delivery (distribution) alone is 27%, transmission is 13%, and supply is only 43%.

That split matters, because the two halves rise for different reasons, and different things lower them.

Why does the supply rate change every six months?

If you haven't picked a supplier and your town has no aggregation program, you get basic service from your utility. National Grid and Eversource both reset the residential basic service rate twice a year, on February 1 and August 1. On National Grid's fixed-price option, the rate then stays the same for the full six months.

The utility buys that power in advance on the regional market and passes the cost through. Eversource says it adds no markup or profit to supply. So when wholesale prices rise, your rate follows.

In New England, wholesale prices track natural gas, which fuels much of the region's power. Eversource's rate rose from about 15.6 to 17.3 cents per kWh on August 1, 2026, an increase tied to a cold winter that drove up demand for natural gas, plus instability in world energy markets. National Grid's fixed residential rate rose from about 15.4 to 17.2 cents on the same day.

For the bigger regional picture, see why New England electric rates keep going up.

What are all the delivery charges on your bill?

The delivery half is where the confusing line names live. Here's what each one pays for, and whether solar can offset it.

Distribution rates are approved by the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities (DPU), and the state program charges are set by law and regulation. No supplier, contract or switch can lower them. Using less power is the only way to shrink them, short of making your own.

Why did your electric bill suddenly go up?

When a bill jumps, it's almost always one of three causes. Check them in this order:

1. The supply rate reset. If the bill covers early February or early August, a new basic service rate may have kicked in. Look at the cents-per-kWh figure on the supply line.
2. You used more electricity. Compare this bill's kilowatt-hours with the same month last year, which most bills show in a usage chart. A new heat pump, an electric car, a cold snap or a summer of air conditioning can add hundreds of kWh. This is common in Massachusetts, where many homes are switching from oil or gas heat to heat pumps.
3. Delivery rates went up. Distribution and transmission rates change after DPU decisions, and they don't follow the six-month supply schedule.

If you're an Eversource customer, start with the supply line. Eversource changes its Massachusetts basic service rate on February 1 and August 1 and passes the cost through with no markup. A bill that covers part of August 2026 may show the jump from about 15.6 to 17.3 cents per kWh, an increase tied to a cold winter that drove up demand for natural gas. If the supply rate hasn't changed, look at your usage, then at the delivery lines.

Check the billing period too. A bill that covers more days than usual, or one based on an estimated meter reading instead of an actual one, can look high and then even out once the next actual reading comes in. Both are printed near the top of most bills, so they take only a moment to rule out.

A long-term climb is the bigger issue. Our article on understanding rising electric rates explains why rates have tended to rise about 5% a year.

What can you control on a Massachusetts electric bill?

Three things are in your hands:

• How much you use. Mass Save offers home energy assessments, rebates and the HEAT Loan, a 0% loan of up to $25,000 for upgrades such as heat pumps. Every kWh you don't use cuts both halves of the bill.
• Who supplies your power. Many cities and towns buy supply in bulk through municipal aggregation, and your utility still delivers the power. You can also sign with a competitive supplier. Those offers can cost more than basic service over time, so read the rate, the term and any fees before signing, and compare the rate with your utility's current basic service rate.
• Where your power comes from. Solar on your roof replaces most of what you buy from the grid, on both halves of the bill.

Efficiency and shopping for supply help, but they only trim the bill. Solar changes what you buy in the first place.

Which parts of a Massachusetts electric bill does solar offset?

Power you use straight from your panels never passes through the meter, so you skip every per-kWh charge on it, including the state program charges. Extra power goes to the grid and earns net metering credits.

Massachusetts treats most home systems well here. Systems of 10 kW or less on a single-phase connection, which covers most homes, keep full-value credits. Eversource figures them from the per-kWh basic service, distribution, transmission and transition rates, and credits roll over from month to month. Summer credits then cover much of your winter use. Our guide to net metering in Massachusetts shows how they appear on the bill, and the pages on Eversource and National Grid cover each utility.

On top of that, SMART 3.0 pays $0.03 for every kWh a home system produces in 2026 ($0.06 for income-qualified households), for up to 20 years. What still shows up is the fixed customer charge, plus any winter use your credits don't cover.

The result is a monthly comparison. A solar payment is usually less than the bill it replaces, and across Evergreen Solar customers, savings average about 15% on day one. Our Massachusetts average is about $1,365 a year. With a lease or PPA, you get a lower rate because the system qualifies for the 30% federal credit, and you can start with $0 down.

With our Day One Savings Guarantee, we compare your solar quote with your average electric bill. If the quote isn't lower, we'll contact you and offer to cancel your consultation, so your time isn't wasted. It applies to solar-only projects. Our guide to what solar costs and saves covers the full picture.

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