Overcharged in New England
At a time when electricity prices in New England are high and rising, a new study by Synapse finds residential basic service ratepayers throughout New England have paid $66 million per month, on average, in hidden fees on their electric bill. Our report, Overcharged in New England, digs into the details of how these costs differ across states. It also discusses how these fees can be addressed with commonsense, achievable regulatory reforms.
These hidden “retail premiums” represent the difference between what consumers pay on their electricity bill, and what electricity actually costs in the ISO New England electricity market. These premiums are meant to act as a market hedge—by paying more for electricity, consumers are ostensibly being protected against even more volatile market prices. However, a detailed month-by-month analysis of supply components, including energy, capacity, renewable portfolio standard compliance, and other smaller, miscellaneous costs, shows that consumers routinely lose money.
Our analysis finds that:
- Over the past ten years, for residential customers on the basic service default options for electricity supply, this premium has ranged from $11 to $20 per month, on average, depending on the state.
- Between 2016 and 2025, customers paid $8.6 billion more than ISO New England’s market cost.
- In just 17 percent of months, premiums collected by suppliers saved customers money. For every $1 dollar saved in those months, customers paid nearly $5 in each of the other 83 percent of months.
For more, read our detailed slide deck on New England-wide results.
For more on the costs of premiums in Massachusetts, see our report Overcharged - Suppliers' Retail Premiums are Inflating Massachusetts Electric Bills.