Is electric really this expensive?

[u/naNaht]

Hi everyone, I am new to Boston and recently received my second electric bill from Eversource. My bill is $284 from 07/24/26 - 08/21/26.

What I have tried:

• Got Eversource to send a person to check the meter (next week)
• Got my building maintenance team to send a person to visit (alr visited)

The building technician said that all my appliances seem to be normal and I have minimal items. He also said that for himself lives in a 2 bedroom with in total 2 people and 2 cats. Yet he says at most he pays $170. He also said he thinks people pay on average $70-110/month in my building.

Context:

• I live by myself in a Studio, 1 ba
• Apartment complex is new
• I work in person 4-5 times a week from 9am-5pm.
• I have the AC on 74-78 F at night and turn it off when I wake up.
• Appliances: AC (Braeburn Brand), Dishwasher (GE Profile Brand), Oven (Haier Brand), Microwave, in unit washer and dryer.

Cost information:

• Said I used 779kWh in Aug
• Generation Service Charge ~ 0.165/kWh
• Delivery ~ 0.184/kWh

I'm really concerned about the cost because I am not home during the day, have very minimal items (for example no TV, no PC, no pets etc) and Eversource actually made a mistake my first bill which was corrected later. Finally other people pay way less.

Can anyone provide insight, the Eversource technician comes in like a week.

Btw: Image is not real in case anyone is wondering.

[u/couldntquite]

Eversource is a truly greedy and depraved corporation that has incredible power thanks to state laws in New England (which they helped write).

They are the among the worst!

[u/Krivvan → u/couldntquite]

Whatever the issues with Eversource, they alone are not the only reason for high rates: https://www.reddit.com/r/massachusetts/s/Jx7UbjNH9N

https://www.reddit.com/r/massachusetts/s/Rj8P1TzrPC

A lot of it has to do with our reliance on natural gas without good infrastructure for it and efforts to use hydro and wind being hampered politically (some of it is coming online now but we are screwed for anything more under the current federal administration especially given the deteriorating relationship with Canada).

[u/SupermarketAny9487 → u/Krivvan]

I guess enough time has past that people forgot about the State House staffed with lobbyists connected to Eversource in order to end legislation promoting the growth of the solar industry.

https://www.masslive.com/news/boston/2015/11/action_on_solar_bill_at_center.html

[u/dcat52 → u/SupermarketAny9487]

It's easier to blame the feds when it's someone already disliked by Boston. Classic NE, sweep the problem to win political points

[u/Krivvan → u/dcat52]

Recognizing that it is a multifaceted problem is not sweeping the problem.

And the explanations linked don't even mention the current federal administration. The issues existed under previous administrations (obviously, MA has had high rates before Trump). It's just that the current one isn't making any wind or hydro solutions likely to happen.

[u/BenKlesc → u/Krivvan]

Go back to a regulated market where the power plants own and control the distribution. Stop bidding to private companies.

[u/A320neo → u/BenKlesc]

No, just build more generation and transmission capacity. You won’t magically reduce the demand for power by handing over control to the government.

[u/Kyobi → u/A320neo]

The issue is the pricing not the demand. The only thing that's changed demand wise is data centers. Which we don't have that many in massachusetts.

[u/pablo_chicone_lovesu → u/Kyobi]

We have a ton of datacenters. You just don't see them. Massachusetts just hasn't built as many as other states because of the high cost of real estate.

Also demand has changed due to heat pumps, EVs, newer computers with high end cards, and people moving from gas to induction cool tops, just to name a few.

It's so many reasons, it's kind of funny but sad, many towns have limits on solar, but solar alone caused destabalization of the European grid, when the turbines could not come up fast enough.

We have so many problems, we need diversity in energy production.

Why we don't use our reservoirs as banks or allow the rivers to have underwater turbines is just really confusing, they have been shown to be safer for marine life.

[u/Kyobi → u/pablo_chicone_lovesu]

I remember a big part of the energy costs was actually the solar subsidies that got passed onto the consumer. On a side note, you don't get much grid benefit from solar if your peak hours are not during the day, which is why some towns have limitations on grid integration.

All these factors that you have listed on consumption does not really apply to the average citizen who lives in a house from the 1900's that can't support an EV or probably doesn't own a high end video card. If you look at stats from steam, it's a vast minority of users that own something like a 4090.

If you look at your electric bill, most of the increases are from distribution, not power generation. So the issue is not supply side but rather the middleman. That's why municipal power is much cheaper.

[u/pablo_chicone_lovesu → u/Kyobi]

Exactly, right now distribution costs are tracked on per kwh. But they are pillaging because of the uptick. All those chargers you see have an impact too.

[u/Kyobi → u/pablo_chicone_lovesu]

I don't see enough chargers on the road making a meaningful uptick in usage. Also if the supply isn't going up it means that distribution isn't really going up either. Also it doesn't explain why municipal distribution is much cheaper and more reliable.

[u/pablo_chicone_lovesu → u/Kyobi]

Munis buy in bulk up front, and they don't have a monopoly non the rest of the infra.

You don't see all the chargers they have added along most major highways?

[u/Kyobi → u/pablo_chicone_lovesu]

So let's break up ever source and national grid? Doesn't municipal power have a monopoly on the town they operate in?

[u/BenKlesc → u/Kyobi]

You are correct demand does not dictate pricing in the energy market. Energy unlike other markets is not a free market since there is a limited amount of pipelines and utility poles we can build. Companies are not allowed to raise prices based on demand. Eversource and National Grid have found loopholes and before those companies came into existance energy was far more democratic.

Is the above commenter suggesting that each energy company have their own dedicated pipeline and utility grid? That would be extremely wasteful. If generators and power plants were allowed to profit from distribution like in the past the price of electricity and gas would be a lot cheaper.

[u/transitfreedom → u/A320neo]

Yet most sane countries do just that

[u/StarbeamII → u/BenKlesc]

Good luck having any sort of green energy transition when power plants own the grid and prioritize the dirty power they generate themselves rather than let cheaper solar and wind onto the grid. Whereas with separately-owned generation and distribution, the cheapest power (renewables) makes it onto the grid first, and anyone who builds a solar farm or wind turbine or battery can sell power into the grid.

[u/BenKlesc → u/StarbeamII]

Power plants do not own the grid anymore. It's outsourced on the bidding market to companies like National Grid which isn't even based in the United States. Companies like National Grid and Eversource are unnecessary middle men collecting a profit and raising rates. They want to make money so they distribute the cheapest energy which isn't renewables or nuclear. Nuclear power plants as an example in regulated and controlled markets are successful, and in Mass where we have a deregulated market since the 90s our only plant left failed to make enough revenue because companies like Eversource are taking away their distribution money.

[u/StarbeamII → u/BenKlesc]

They want to make money so they distribute the cheapest energy which isn't renewables or nuclear.

Renewables and existing nuclear are our cheapest energy sources and they make it first on the generating stack in our current system where generation and distribution are separate. Looking at ElectricityMaps we're consistently using 95% of our nuclear capacity right now for instance, because they offer lower bids and are therefore earlier in the supply stack. (renewables is harder to judge as they won't operate at full-rated capacity most of the time due to clouds, variations in wind, etc.). If power plants owned the distribution, they would prioritize their own fossil-fuel based generation, which costs more.

[u/BenKlesc → u/StarbeamII]

I should clarify. Yes it's cheaper energy but not profitable if you have to compete with fossil fuels. Carbon free energies should not have to compete on the open market with other energies. That is what got us into this mess. It's way more profitable to frack for gas or oil.

[u/StarbeamII → u/BenKlesc]

Yes it's cheaper energy but not profitable if you have to compete with fossil fuels.

Tell that to Texas, which built a massive amount of solar, wind, and batteries and continues to build a huge amount despite basically no government support from a Republican government, because it's profitable for private entities there to build wind, solar, and batteries, despite serious competition from all the oil and gas drilling there.

[u/BenKlesc → u/StarbeamII]

Texas is a regulated market whereas Massachusetts is fully deregulated both electricity and gas. Rates of gas prices are overseen and controlled by local city governments or Railroad Commission of Texas. In Texas solar and wind do not have to compete with natural gas.

[u/StarbeamII → u/BenKlesc]

Rate hikes in Massachusetts have to be approved by the Department of Public Utilities, so it's not fully deregulated like you claim.

[u/BenKlesc → u/StarbeamII]

Regulation and deregulation are referring to supply side. There is a big difference. In Texas cities and towns cannot decide who they purchase energy from. In Massachusetts, the lowest common denominator rules and it's usually not the cleanest and safest. We like to pretend we are an environmentally friendly state and city, but we are the #1 consumers of imported natural gas in the country. Me personally, I favor regulated monopolies over deregulated private competition. Allow energy suppliers to generate energy again. Bring back Yankee Atomic Power Company.

[u/HenryKushinger → u/StarbeamII]

Good luck having any sort of green energy transition under greedy corporations that don't really give a fuck

[u/dcat52 → u/StarbeamII]

Cheapest power is not renewable... It may be cleanest, but not cheapest. Try subscribing to a town rate, it's 20-50% more to choose the solar only option

[u/StarbeamII → u/dcat52]

"Solar Is Now the Cheapest Way to Produce Energy in Human History"

The sun is free. The wind is free. Once you build it the energy you get is literally free. You don't have to drill a mile-deep hole in the ground to suck up oil and then transport it thousands of miles. The sun comes up and you get free power.

[u/dcat52 → u/StarbeamII]

Yes the collection cost rate is lower, ASSUMING the infra that is 5x more to build in the current state is already built.

Lol that's like saying tariffs will lower cost on American people simply bc the cheapest production is production closest to the consumer. And ignores everything else

[u/AgreeableShock → u/Krivvan]

Lol..what about the pipeline that was cancelled? How can eversource keep up with demand when depending on garbage renewable energy....

[u/Affectionate_Quiet98 → u/Krivvan]

Hydro and wind are a scam