Eversource Eastern Massachusetts Customers Face 2019 Price Hike
Massachusetts energy customers residing in the eastern part of the state who receive their electricity bill from Eversource Energy (formerly NSTAR) are facing a large price hike on the basic service rate portion of the bill. The rate increase is set to go into effect on January 1, 2019 and will be the first rate change since July 2018. Eversource Energy’s basic service rate is the price the utility charges power generation supply to those customers who are not on a competitive rate plan. The rate will increase by 20.24% in January to $0.13704 per KWh compared to the current price of $0.11397 that has been in effect since July.
Customers in Massachusetts have the ability to shop for competitive electricity rates and avoid the full effect of the large price increase. There are a growing number of people living in deregulated electricity markets, such as eastern Massachusetts, who are realizing the savings opportunities of switching to a competitive supplier. Shopping for competitive electricity rates is a much easier process than most people realize in Boston and other eastern Massachusetts cities. The entire process of switching suppliers can be completed by visiting an online electricity price comparison site allowing a customer to view multiple offers on one platform. Upon completion of comparing the options and choosing a rate plan, the switch process begins online without having to worry about scheduling a time for a person to come to your home and change wires.
Finding a cheaper electricity rate may seem like a no brainer, but several myths floating around prevent people from shopping for lower electricity prices. Cheaper electricity might cause an association with lower quality electricity. In addition, suppliers offering cheap rates can possess a stigma of not being financially strong enough to survive in the long run. Both of these concerns are not viable as the quality of the power is the same no matter which supplier a customer chooses to enter into an agreement with. In the rare case where a supplier does go out of business, the customer simply is put back on the Eversource Energy basic service rate without any interruption of service. Shopping for competitive electricity rates in Massachusetts can provide customers savings when the competitive prices are lower than the basic service rate, as they are now, without any risk of losing power or receiving lower quality connectivity of power.
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