Massachusetts electricity rates: a top-three price that held still

A top-three price that barely moved

Over the 12 months from September 2025 to August 2026, Massachusetts residential customers paid an average of 30.39¢ per kWh, 68.5% above the US average and the 3rd highest¹ among the 50 states and DC. That figure is average revenue per kWh: everything homes paid their utility and their supplier, divided by the electricity they used. It covers all homes, whether they buy supply from the utility or from someone else, and it is not the price printed on any one bill.

What sets Massachusetts apart in the last year is stability. The 12-month average was only 0.8% higher than in the 12 months before, the 3rd lowest change among the states, against +6.5% for the US. In August 2026 the average was 30.48¢ per kWh, −0.2% on the same month a year earlier, and for January to August 2026 the average was −0.1% on the same months of 2025 (2026 months are preliminary). Of the state's 5 neighbors, 5 had a lower 12-month residential price; Rhode Island had the highest of them (29.44¢ per kWh) and Vermont the lowest (23.90¢ per kWh¹).

Under 14.00¢14.00¢ to 16.00¢16.00¢ to 18.00¢18.00¢ to 22.00¢22.00¢ or more

Source: EIA, Electric Power Monthly / EIA-861M sales and revenue by state; Census Bureau, Cartographic boundary file, states. Darker states are higher; DC is the dot. Residential revenue divided by kilowatt-hours sold over the 12 months 2025-09 to 2026-08 (EIA-861M; months since January 2026 preliminary). Average revenue per kWh, all charges included; not a tariff. Period: September 2025 to August 2026.

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State	Residential ¢/kWh, 12 months
Hawaii	44.27¢
California	32.34¢
Massachusetts	30.39¢
Maine	29.60¢
Rhode Island	29.44¢
New York	28.60¢
Connecticut	27.42¢
New Hampshire	26.95¢
Alaska	26.94¢
District of Columbia	24.48¢
Vermont	23.90¢
New Jersey	23.74¢
Michigan	21.28¢
Maryland	21.18¢
Pennsylvania	20.86¢
Illinois	18.91¢
Wisconsin	18.79¢
Ohio	18.41¢
Delaware	17.98¢
Indiana	16.90¢
Virginia	16.64¢
Colorado	16.61¢
Alabama	16.44¢
Minnesota	16.28¢
Texas	15.98¢
South Carolina	15.77¢
Oregon	15.53¢
West Virginia	15.53¢
Florida	15.41¢
Arizona	15.39¢
New Mexico	15.31¢
Georgia	15.17¢
Kansas	15.13¢
Mississippi	14.85¢
North Carolina	14.79¢
South Dakota	14.28¢
Iowa	14.20¢
Washington	14.20¢
Wyoming	14.01¢
Missouri	13.97¢
Kentucky	13.94¢
Montana	13.94¢
Oklahoma	13.81¢
Tennessee	13.61¢
Arkansas	13.57¢
Nevada	13.45¢
Utah	13.26¢
Louisiana	13.02¢
Idaho	12.77¢
Nebraska	12.74¢
North Dakota	12.35¢

The long climb before it

The calm year follows a long climb. The annual residential average rose from 14.59¢ per kWh in 2010 to 30.41¢ per kWh in 2025, an increase of 108.4% and the 2nd highest among the states over that period; the US average rose 49.3%. Since 2015 the state's price has gone up 53.4%, the 4th highest increase. The annual average rose in 18 of the years since 2002; the latest annual decline was in 2024, followed by a rise of 3.6%⁵ in 2025.

MassachusettsUnited States

Source: EIA, Historical state data, annual sales, revenue and customers; EIA, Historical state data, monthly sales and revenue 1990-2009. Average revenue per kWh (all charges, nominal dollars), each calendar year: 2010 onward EIA-861 final annual data, 2001–2009 the sum of the monthly survey.

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Period	Massachusetts (¢/kWh)	United States (¢/kWh)
2001	12.47¢	8.58¢
2002	10.93¢	8.44¢
2003	11.60¢	8.72¢
2004	11.75¢	8.95¢
2005	13.44¢	9.45¢
2006	16.60¢	10.40¢
2007	16.23¢	10.65¢
2008	17.56¢	11.26¢
2009	16.87¢	11.51¢
2010	14.59¢	11.54¢
2011	14.67¢	11.72¢
2012	14.91¢	11.88¢
2013	15.83¢	12.13¢
2014	17.39¢	12.52¢
2015	19.83¢	12.65¢
2016	19.00¢	12.55¢
2017	20.06¢	12.89¢
2018	21.61¢	12.87¢
2019	21.92¢	13.01¢
2020	21.97¢	13.15¢
2021	22.89¢	13.66¢
2022	25.97¢	15.04¢
2023	29.61¢	16.00¢
2024	29.35¢	16.48¢
2025	30.41¢	17.23¢

Most homes buy supply from someone other than the utility

In 2025, 63.6% of Massachusetts residential customers bought their electricity supply from a competitive supplier or a community choice aggregation program (a town or city buying supply on behalf of its residents), 1st of 51 among the states; nationally the figure was 15.1%. EIA counted 39³ suppliers and aggregation programs with residential customers in the state. Their customers still get delivery from the local utility, which charges them for it. Customers of the investor-owned utilities who do not switch stay on basic service.

The three groups paid different averages in 2025, for different parts of the bill:

• full-service customers, who buy supply and delivery from their utility (basic service or a municipal light department), paid 24.03¢ per kWh for both together;
• customers of suppliers and aggregation programs paid them 15.22¢ per kWh for supply only;
• the same customers paid their utility 19.49¢ per kWh³ for delivery only.

Those figures cover different customers and different services, so they are not a like-for-like comparison and cannot be added together. The supply-only average mixes every contract in force during the year, from aggregation programs to individual offers; it is not a current price. To compare a specific offer with your utility's basic service, the Department of Public Utilities runs Energy Switch Massachusetts; the Massachusetts retail choice guide explains how the market is organized.

Utility full-service customers (default service): supply and delivery24.03¢

Competitive suppliers and CCAs: supply only15.22¢

Utility delivery for customers of a supplier: delivery only19.49¢

Source: EIA-861 annual electric power industry report, 2025 final. Average revenue per kWh by service part, EIA-861 2025. Supply-only and delivery-only averages each cover only part of a bill and different groups of customers; adding them gives only a rough estimate of what a shopping customer paid in total.

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Part of the market	¢/kWh
Utility full-service customers (default service): supply and delivery	24.03¢
Competitive suppliers and CCAs: supply only	15.22¢
Utility delivery for customers of a supplier: delivery only	19.49¢

Eversource, National Grid and the municipal light departments

Two investor-owned companies serve most homes: Eversource delivers power to 45.5% of the state's residential customers and National Grid to 43.9%. Most of their customers shop: 75.9% of Eversource's residential delivery customers and 64.4% of National Grid's bought supply from a supplier or an aggregation program in 2025. For those customers, Eversource collected 20.06¢ per kWh for delivery alone and National Grid 18.73¢ per kWh³.

The rest of the state is served mainly by municipal light departments, which supply and deliver power themselves. Their prices are a different story. In 2025, public power customers in Massachusetts paid an average of 16.88¢ per kWh, against 28.80¢ per kWh for the basic-service customers of the investor-owned utilities. Among the 15 utilities with 10,000 or more full-service residential customers, Town of Hudson had the lowest average (13.14¢ per kWh) and National Grid the highest (33.66¢ per kWh), a gap of 20.52¢ per kWh³. Those utility figures are bundled averages; for Eversource and National Grid they describe only the minority of customers on basic service.

Investor-owned utilities28.80¢

Public power (municipal, districts, state)16.88¢

Source: EIA-861 annual electric power industry report, 2025 final. Bundled (full-service) residential revenue divided by kWh, summed over every utility of each type (EIA-861 2025). Small utilities filing the short form report no residential split and are not included.

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Type	¢/kWh	Residential customers
Investor-owned utilities	28.80¢	750,817
Public power (municipal, districts, state)	16.88¢	258,300

Town of Hudson13.14¢

Town of Shrewsbury15.53¢

Town of Middleborough15.59¢

Town of North Attleborough15.87¢

Town of Braintree16.17¢

City of Chicopee16.21¢

City of Holyoke16.36¢

Town of Danvers16.55¢

City of Peabody16.88¢

City of Norwood17.61¢

City of Westfield18.46¢

City of Taunton18.81¢

Town of Reading19.95¢

Eversource21.49¢

Massachusetts average30.41¢

National Grid33.66¢

Source: EIA-861 annual electric power industry report, 2025 final. Utilities with 10,000 or more bundled (full-service) residential customers. Revenue divided by kWh sold, all charges included, EIA-861 2025 final. Darker bars have their own page. In this state, customers who buy supply from a competitive supplier are not in these averages (they pay delivery to the utility and supply to the supplier).

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Utility	¢/kWh
Town of Hudson	13.14¢
Town of Shrewsbury	15.53¢
Town of Middleborough	15.59¢
Town of North Attleborough	15.87¢
Town of Braintree	16.17¢
City of Chicopee	16.21¢
City of Holyoke	16.36¢
Town of Danvers	16.55¢
City of Peabody	16.88¢
City of Norwood	17.61¢
City of Westfield	18.46¢
City of Taunton	18.81¢
Town of Reading	19.95¢
Eversource	21.49¢
Massachusetts average	30.41¢
National Grid	33.66¢

Because many towns run their own light department, a single county can contain several providers: 11⁷ distribution utilities report service in Worcester County alone. The utility's own map, not the county, decides who serves an address.

Eversource only (of these)National Grid only (of these)Two or more of themOther utilities only

Source: EIA-861 2025, service territory; Census Bureau, Cartographic boundary file, counties. Counties where each utility reports serving customers (EIA-861 service territory, 2025). A utility often serves only part of a county, and several can share one: the map shows where each one is present, not street-level boundaries. Point at a county for every utility listed there.

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County	Utilities reporting service
Barnstable County	Eversource, National Grid
Berkshire County	Eversource, National Grid, Town of Chester
Bristol County	Eversource, National Grid, City of Taunton, Town of North Attleborough, Town of Mansfield
Dukes County	Eversource
Essex County	National Grid, City of Peabody, Town of Danvers, Town of Marblehead, Town of Ipswich, Town of Middleton, Town of Georgetown, Town of Rowley, Town of Merrimac, Town of Groveland
Franklin County	Eversource, National Grid
Hampden County	Eversource, National Grid, City of Chicopee, City of Westfield, City of Holyoke, Town of Chester, City of Russell
Hampshire County	Eversource, National Grid, Town of South Hadley
Middlesex County	Eversource, National Grid, Town of Reading, Fitchburg Gas & Electric Light Co, Town of Wakefield, Town of Belmont, Town of Hudson, Town of Concord, Town of Littleton, Town of Groton
Nantucket County	Nantucket Electric Co
Norfolk County	Eversource, National Grid, Town of Braintree, City of Norwood, Town of Wellesley
Plymouth County	Eversource, National Grid, Town of Middleborough, City of Hingham, Hull Municipal Light Plant
Suffolk County	Eversource, National Grid
Worcester County	National Grid, Fitchburg Gas & Electric Light Co, Town of Shrewsbury, Town of Holden, Town of Sterling, Town of Templeton, Town of West Boylston, Town of Ashburnham, Town of Boylston, Town of Paxton, Town of Princeton

Small use, large bills

Massachusetts homes use little electricity. The average residential customer used 596 kWh a month in 2025, the 8th lowest among the states, against 874 kWh² nationally. Electricity heats 21.1% of the state's homes, compared with 41.8%⁹ across the US (Census Bureau, 2025).

Low use does not offset the price. The average bill was $181.08 in 2025, $30.40 more a month than the US average and the 5th highest in the country, up 8.3%² from $167.20 in 2024 as use per home rose from 570 kWh¹⁰. Households report similar amounts: the Census Bureau's 2025 survey put the median Massachusetts bill at about $180 (US $169), and 32.4% of households paying for electricity reported $250 or more for the month (±0.5 percentage points), 3.9 percentage points¹¹ more than a year earlier. That change is a difference between two survey estimates and has not been tested for significance.

Over the last 12 months use per home ranged from 474 kWh in May 2026 to 774 kWh in August 2026, a ratio of 1.6 times. The climate is cold, with 5,835 heating degree days a year against 630¹² cooling degree days on average (NOAA, 2016–2025), but because only 21.1%⁹ of homes heat with electricity, cold weather moves electricity use less than in states where electric heat is common. The average price itself moved less, from 28.82¢ per kWh in May 2026 to 31.29¢ per kWh in October 2025¹.

542Sep

490Oct

484Nov

638Dec

717Jan

705Feb

594Mar

491Apr

474May

576Jun

738Jul

774Aug

Source: EIA, Electric Power Monthly / EIA-861M sales and revenue by state. Residential kWh sold per customer in each month. The table adds that month's average residential price. Monthly EIA data through August 2026 (released October 23, 2026); months since January 2026 are preliminary.

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Month	kWh per customer	Residential ¢/kWh
September 2025	542	30.31¢
October 2025	490	31.29¢
November 2025	484	31.13¢
December 2025	638	30.80¢
January 2026	717	31.16¢
February 2026	705	30.46¢
March 2026	594	30.21¢
April 2026	491	29.45¢
May 2026	474	28.82¢
June 2026	576	29.61¢
July 2026	738	30.49¢
August 2026	774	30.48¢

A grid that runs on gas and imports

Power plants in Massachusetts generated the equivalent of 44% of the state's retail electricity sales in 2025, the 3rd lowest ratio among the states; the difference comes from outside the state. Of what the state does generate, natural gas produced 78.8% in 2025, the 3rd highest share in the country and up 13.3 percentage points since 2015. Nuclear plants produced 15.6% of the state's electricity in 2015 and none in 2025; coal fell from 7.0% to none. Solar grew from 1.4% to 9.4%¹³.

Natural gasCoalNuclearHydroWindSolarPetroleumOther

Massachusetts, 2025

Massachusetts, 2015

United States, 2025

Source: EIA, Net generation by state by type of producer by energy source. Share of net generation by all power plants located in the state (utilities and independent producers), by energy source. Electricity crosses state lines, so this is what the state produces, not exactly what its customers consume. Pumped storage is a net user of power and is left out.

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	Natural gas	Coal	Nuclear	Hydro	Wind	Solar	Petroleum	Other
Massachusetts, 2025	78.8%	0.0%	0.0%	3.4%	0.9%	9.4%	1.9%	5.6%
Massachusetts, 2015	65.5%	7.0%	15.6%	2.6%	0.7%	1.4%	2.4%	4.8%
United States, 2025	40.9%	16.6%	17.7%	5.5%	10.4%	6.8%	0.4%	1.7%

Business electricity rates

Commercial customers paid an average of 24.17¢ per kWh over the last 12 months, 74.3% above the US average and the 3rd highest among the states. Unlike the residential price, the commercial average rose 7.6% against the 12 months before, compared with 5.7% nationally. Industrial customers paid 19.54¢ per kWh, 119.3% above the US average¹. The average commercial bill was $1,103.27 a month in 2025, against $856.32² for the US. These are averages across very different accounts, from small shops to large offices; a business's own price depends on its utility, its supply contract and its load.

MassachusettsUnited States

Residential30.39¢ 18.04¢

Commercial24.17¢ 13.87¢

Industrial19.54¢ 8.91¢

All sectors26.07¢ 14.15¢

Source: EIA, Electric Power Monthly / EIA-861M sales and revenue by state. Average revenue per kWh: what each customer class paid in total divided by what it used. Industrial customers take power at higher voltage and in large, steady volumes, so their average is lower. Monthly EIA data through August 2026 (released October 23, 2026); months since January 2026 are preliminary.

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Sector	Massachusetts (¢/kWh)	United States (¢/kWh)
Residential	30.39¢	18.04¢
Commercial	24.17¢	13.87¢
Industrial	19.54¢	8.91¢
All sectors	26.07¢	14.15¢

Meters, solar, outages and help paying

Smart meters are rare in Massachusetts. In 2025, 22.0% of residential meters were advanced meters (51st of 51 among the states), and 0.2% of residential customers were on a time-varying rate. Rooftop solar is more common: utilities reported 209,993 net-metered residential installations, 71.9 per 1,000 residential customers (7th highest, against 38.1¹⁴ nationally). Electricity those panels produce and use on site does not appear in the kWh-per-home figures above.

Outages were short by national standards. Customers averaged 122 minutes without power in 2025 including major storms, the 7th lowest total among the states, and 76 minutes excluding them; the average customer had 0.90¹⁵ interruptions.

Massachusetts received $163.3 million from the federal Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) for fiscal 2026, $57.74 per occupied home, the 7th highest amount among the states; the first fiscal 2027 release was $142.3 million¹⁶. The help paying your electric bill guide covers LIHEAP and utility assistance programs.