Led by Connecticut, New England’s residential electricity prices soar Image By EPN Staff Connecticut residents’ electricity rates are the highest in New England and 86 percent higher than the national average, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. That ranks Connecticut No. 2 among states – Hawaii is No. 1 – for the most expensive average residential electricity rates in the nation. Vermont residents enjoy the lowest average rate for electricity in the region, although the $0.2082 per kilowatt hour rate remains 30 percent higher than the national average. Why it matters As electricity and energy prices skyrocket, they become a drag on economic growth and households finances, leaving consumers with a smaller portion of their budget to spend on goods, services and activities. Higher prices also risk pushing more lower- and middle-income households into poverty. Electricity rates across the U.S. have soared 23 percent since 2019. In Connecticut, the increase has been even sharper: 37 percent. Those high rates have been reflected in average monthly bills, too. Connecticut residents have the second highest average monthly electricity bills – $202.74 – which again trails only Hawaiians’ average monthly bill of $213.23. Vermonters pay an average monthly bill of $117.11, below the national average of $136.84. How we got here High electricity bills have been a fact of life for consumers in Connecticut, with the latest bill increase approved in summer 2024. Experts attribute the heavy financial burden on residents to a variety of factors, including costs associated with grid maintenance, geopolitical turmoil and state policy actions that have constrained infrastructure development, incentivized greater demand for electricity and increased the need for electricity produced in other states. Yes, but… Connecticut doesn’t have a lock on the region’s highest electricity rates. Massachusetts and Connecticut have traded for the region’s highest rate three times in the past five years, and New Hampshire has remained close behind. Vermont, however, maintains a clear hold on the region’s lowest rate since Maine has pushed its residents’ electricity rates 53 percent higher since 2019. New Englanders’ electricity rates are about twice as high as those paid by residents in the South Central, South Atlantic, East South Central, West North Central and Mountain regions.
