Anatomy of a Connecticut electric bill

Connecticut residents now pay among the highest electric bills in the nation and the most among the six New England states. Most people know electric rates are high in the state but many don’t know how to read their bill. Here’s a look at a typical UI electric bill and what the terms mean.

1 SUPPLIER

Generation Service Charge: This is the cost charged to the utility for your electricity based on kilowatt hours used each month.

2 DELIVERY

This section includes several different charges, including the transmission and distribution charges.

3 TRANSMISSION CHARGE

This is the price of delivering electricity over high-voltage power lines from the generation plant to the distribution company. The charge is for operating and maintaining the system.

4 DISTRIBUTION BASIC SERVICE

The distribution customer service (Eversource) or distribution basic service (UI) charge is a monthly fixed charge for the cost of billing, meter reading, customer service and the customer service line.

5 DISTRIBUTION PER KWH

This is for operating and maintaining the local wires, transformers, substations and other equipment that deliver electricity to your home or business.

6 COMBINED PUBLIC BENEFIT CHARGE

These charges reflect numerous mandated costs by the state legislature that provide money for education and financial hardship programs for electric customers. Other portions go to the state Renewable Energy Investment Fund, which provides incentives for renewable energy projects and energy efficiency programs.

7 NON-BYPASSABLE FMCC PER KWH

The federally mandated congestion delivery charge collects costs for the Millstone energy contract and the low-emission renewable energy, solar home renewable energy and passive demand response programs.

8 DECOUPLING ADJUSTMENT

The revenue adjustment mechanism (Eversource) or decoupling adjustment (UI) allows electric companies to recover money they could not collect and requires them to refund money to ratepayers that was over-collected.

Staff graphics