Boston Area Electric bills - what's yours?

Submitted by mrjojo-san t3_zoimu6 in boston

Hey guys, I could use help comparing electric charges. We've seen our electric bill, year over year, has increased about 57%! Looks like the cause is a dramatic increase in our supply charge rate, going from 0.14821/kWh to 0.33891/kWh. National Grid is our suppler. (I'm also not sure our consumption is being accurately measured, but that's a different topic)

  • Oct 2021 : $46.68 - Delivery services: $28.60; Supply charges: $18.44 (0.11823 * 156 kWh)

  • Oct 2022 : $74.70 - Delivery services: $33.27; Supply charges: $41.79 (0.22351 * 187kWh)

  • Nov 2021 : $58.30 (Delivery services: $31.97; Supply charges: $60.66 (0.14821 * 180 kWh)

  • Nov 2022 : $91.89 (Delivery services: $31.59; Supply charges: $60.66 (0.33891 * 179 kWh)

So, is anyone else seeing red from their electric bills?

Note: it's just my partner and I. We live in a 1 bedroom, and our large appliances are 1 TV and fridge. Other electronics are 1 laptop used daily. I plan to

EDIT: Thank you for all your anecdotes and advice. I have immediately switched to Town Square Energy after reviewing the list of supplier rates for my zip code on https://energyswitchma.gov/#/ They're offering 0.19 v 0.33 of National Grid, a 33% in savings!

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modernhomeowner t1_j0n9yo2 wrote

You can choose between like 200 suppliers. The list is on the state's website. National Grid posts their rate for the next 6 months 2 months in advance. I check daily until it's posted. All suppliers are way up to account for our lack of natural gas pipelines into MA and our need to rely on Europe and thus Russia, unlike the rest of the US that has cheap flowing natural gas and electricity. They say next winter will be way worse than this winter, so buckle up and get in a contract with a third party supplier. Ambit and Inspire are two of my favorites since they have contracts without cancellation fees.

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2drink t1_j0nkmwm wrote

> s and electricity. They say next winter will be way worse than this winter, so buckle up and get in a contract with a third party supplier. Ambit and Inspire are two of my favorites since they have contracts without cancellation fees.

Last I heard our natural gas was coming via LNG tanker from Yemen, Europe, and of course Russia. There is so much shale gas near us (yes from fracking) in the Marcellus field. Why can't we get some pipelines? All this not in my backyard anti compressor station stuff needs to stop.

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Shamrock132 t1_j0s07hn wrote

I agree about the NIMBY attitude, but do a little research on the compressor station. The states opposition to green energy is holding things back. We've closed a nuclear station, denied the various offshore wind projects, and haven't cooperated well with other surrounding states to bring in transmission lines.

The only purpose of the Weymouth station is to take natural gas from PA in the Atlantic Bridge pipeline, and re-pressurize it so it can be pumped to Maine and Canada and exported. Massachusetts doesn't benefit.

https://www.wbur.org/news/2020/10/13/weymouth-compressor-explainer-climate-change-enbridge-natural-gas-fracking

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GrammyKaz t1_j0nsy0q wrote

> National Grid posts their rate for the next 6 months

Where are you finding this rate? Are you talking about the site to check all the suppliers or specifically on the National Grid site? I've looked everywhere on the NG site but found nothing. Maybe it's me.

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flyingmountain t1_j0nec0f wrote

Go to https://energyswitchma.gov/#/ and sign up with a different supplier. Personally I'd suggest avoiding any that have a cancellation fee because if rates go back down, you want to be able to switch again. Absolutely nothing changes on your end, you still pay your bill as usual, you just pay less for it.

As a side note, it's unfortunate that you live in a National Grid electric town, they're more expensive than Eversource/NSTAR which is more common in Boston and surrounding communities.

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Xzera t1_j0ngn6a wrote

In Quincy - also shocked by my $327 electric bill this month at 0.33891 too… definitely looking for advice on switching or who to switch to until Quincy can get their collective community electricity up and going.

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GrammyKaz t1_j0njx69 wrote

The guy who handles our town getting back on the program just told me there's a list and we're about a year and a half down on the list. I'm in the Merrimack Valley, hopefully you're higher on the list. I'm thinking Inspire or Townsquare, neither have cancellation fees.

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flyingmountain t1_j0nmjlb wrote

https://energyswitchma.gov/#/

I just pick the lowest-cost 100% renewable option that doesn't have a cancellation fee. If you don't care about 100% renewable, your cost would likely be lower. Keep track of when the contract runs out (I set a reminder in my phone). Before the contract ends, or earlier if I think of it, I go back to the site and see what the current lowest rate is, and sign up with that supplier.

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fuckitillmakeanother t1_j0q5m8b wrote

Is Quincy getting municipal electricity? I thought we were getting municipal ISP and we were putting in a small power plant just to run that

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Xzera t1_j0r4fyy wrote

No, just pooling all Quincy residents together and having electricity suppliers bid for our business which will drive down the price for us type of program. You can elect to opt out once it launches and select your own supplier though.

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GrammyKaz t1_j0ng30o wrote

I just did a post about this the other day. It seems only some areas of the state got that increase others increase isn't as great. Mine is the same as yours and I'm not happy. Our town let the agreement expire and it will be likely a year and half before they get another. Awesome timing on dropping that ball, we were not informed.

With everything gone paperless billing I haven't kept as close a watch. The bill has never changed so drastically and I've been paying it for many decades. Now we have to watch it like the stock market and gamble on our choices like we're playing the lottery.

Definitely keep an eye out for early termination fees and monthly additional fees. It sucks this will likely be part of our life now, following the prices, bouncing around chasing them, a bunch of companies now have all of your private information, the inevitable issues which come along with doing all that. This is all less and less fun every day.

Edit to add another thing to watch out for is the auto renewal which renews to a variable rather than fixed rate. That should be illegal.

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taguscove t1_j0nft9b wrote

$0

MA solar incentives are nuts. If you are able to install, it is about a guaranteed 16% return on investment or 7 year payback. I thought it was too good to be true at first

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GrammyKaz t1_j0njfr2 wrote

What type of financing do they have going on for them, if any? Do you know? A couple of neighbors did them but paid outright. Both ran between 40 and 50k.

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taguscove t1_j0np0pn wrote

Not sure. Paid $17k for a 4kw system. $11k after upfront tax incentives. about $1500 a per year in free electricity and SMART incentive checks after that. Financing hurts the economics a lot. My guess is about 8% implied interest rate. 40-50k would mean their electricity bill is an average of $500 per month

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modernhomeowner t1_j0nusbz wrote

National Grid is out of SMART rebates, the state didn't allot them correctly.

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taguscove t1_j0nwfar wrote

That sucks. Oh well, the economics are still quite good if buying upfront. Mainly because MA electricity is among the most expensive in the USA. Only Hawaii and a couple others are worse

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GrammyKaz t1_j0nqo1l wrote

That's not too bad at all. I haven't really taken the time to get the details of their particular systems only the bottom line.

One of my concerns with solar is recalling the 80's and people having a difficult time disposing of panels no longer working. In addition many are including battery banks which are great but again disposal, even recycling could be an issue.

My neighbor is a retired electric company employee he's wondered how we'll power all of the ev vehicles becoming mandatory in the not too distant future. There's so much to be concerned about right now and so many new technologies, programs, and incentives to educate ourselves to...my brain is tired.

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hdiggyh t1_j0n9mkb wrote

Yes my most recent bill went from $180 last year to $480 this year. Basically the same usage. Strongly considering solar

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imdoingmyroutine t1_j0nd84t wrote

How is that possible?

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PMSfishy t1_j0nfgp0 wrote

Publicly traded utilities.

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imdoingmyroutine t1_j0ng8e6 wrote

Yea I just realized I am on the Boston city electric plan so my rates have basically been the same for the last few years. I didn't realize people were actually seeing their bill go up more than 100% that's nuts.

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modernhomeowner t1_j0nun41 wrote

I have National Grid in Massachusetts, I had National Grid when I lived in New York. National Grid in New York right now is about 17¢ (just looked at a family members bill today), when it is 48¢ in Massachusetts. It has nothing to do with being a publicly traded company and everything to do with the laws in Massachusetts that make it more expensive for consumers.

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PMSfishy t1_j0nvii0 wrote

You are pulling numbers out your ass if you think 48c is the actual price. It also has everything to do with being publicly traded, must return profits to shareholders at any and all cost. It’s fucking criminal what they do.

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modernhomeowner t1_j0nwb0l wrote

It's 48¢. You can look on their website. 11.04¢ for delivery, 2.7¢ for MassSave 33.821¢ for supply. Comes to 47.6¢. It was to be 48.2¢ but they lowered delivery about a half a cent. Again, how can National Grid offer electricity for 17¢ in NY and 48¢ here? It's local politics, nothing to do with profit. Their profit is capped by the state. They have to do everything they are told by the state.

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mgzukowski t1_j0qdapp wrote

This is Massachusetts, they are highly regulated and the profit margin is set by the state.

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LivingLifeIn80HD t1_j0t6306 wrote

Yea I thought $154 was normal for a 3b/1b unit, considering my roommates and I all have full-time on site jobs. But then I asked the second floor neighbors (all three WFH) what their last bill was. And did some sleuthing in the basement. The shared “free” washer/dryer and the second/third floor large appliances are on my meter…we pay nearly 3x more on electricity than the other two units🤠

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thomase7 t1_j0o65yf wrote

Man your supply cost is really high. Ours is .098 through our towns collective power agreement.

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dolsey01 t1_j0v2sum wrote

Just switched to Inspire at .19c, wasn't the cheapest but didn't have a cancellation fee. Hope I don't regret it. Will check the Basic Rate when it changes in the spring.

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2drink t1_j0nksoz wrote

So much of our electricity comes from natural gas now. Prices have been spiking. Last I heard our natural gas was coming via LNG tanker from Yemen, Europe, and of course Russia. There is so much shale gas near us (yes from fracking) in the Marcellus field. Why can't we get some pipelines? All this not in my backyard anti compressor station stuff needs to stop.

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djohnstonb t1_j0wv66m wrote

Last month I made $13,132 working from home being my own boss, but paid $19,182 in electricity, so I guess it wasn't the right move :(

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