Supply vs. Delivery Charges on Your Eversource Bill, Explained

Open your Eversource bill and you'll find it's really two bills stapled together: a Supply section and a Delivery section. Most Connecticut homeowners have never had anyone explain the difference — which is a problem, because it's the key to understanding why your bill keeps climbing.

What is the supply charge?

The supply charge pays for the electricity itself — the actual energy generated at power plants and measured by your meter in kilowatt-hours (kWh).

Here's the part most people don't know: Eversource doesn't generate electricity. It buys power on your behalf through competitive auctions and passes the cost straight through to you as the Standard Service rate. That rate resets twice a year — every January 1 and July 1 — which is why your bill can jump sharply even when your usage hasn't changed.

And jump it does. On January 1, 2026, the Eversource Standard Service supply rate rose from about 9.7¢ to about 12.6¢ per kWh — roughly a 29% increase in the supply portion of the bill, adding about $20 a month for a typical home. Winter rates in New England run high because the region generates most of its electricity with natural gas, and gas gets expensive exactly when homes need it for heat.

What is the delivery charge?

The delivery charge pays for getting the electricity to your house: the poles, wires, substations, transformers, storm repairs, and the utility's own operating costs and profit. It's made up of several line items, including:

• Transmission — moving high-voltage power across the regional grid
• Local distribution — the lines and equipment in your neighborhood
• Public benefits — state energy programs funded through your bill (this one deserves its own explanation)
• Fixed customer charge — a flat monthly fee (around $9–10) you pay just to have an account, before you use a single kilowatt-hour

Here's the detail that surprises people: most delivery charges also scale with your usage. Every kWh you pull from the grid gets billed twice — once to buy the energy, and again to deliver it.

Why does this matter?

Because it changes the math on everything.

If you're comparing electricity costs — or thinking about solar — the number that matters isn't the supply rate you see advertised. It's your all-in rate: total bill divided by total kWh. For most Eversource customers, the all-in rate is roughly double the supply rate alone.

It also explains why "shopping for a cheaper supplier" rarely changes much. A third-party supplier can only compete on the supply half of your bill. The delivery half — the bigger, faster-growing half in many years — stays exactly the same no matter who supplies your power.

Can you avoid either charge?

You can't opt out of delivery charges while you're connected to the grid. But you can shrink the number both charges are multiplied by: the kilowatt-hours you pull from the grid.

That's the real mechanic behind rooftop solar in Connecticut. Every kWh your roof produces is a kWh you don't buy — which means you skip the supply charge and the usage-based delivery charges on it. Under the state's Residential Renewable Energy Solutions program, extra power you send to the grid earns bill credits, too.

If you want the full picture of how your bill works and what solar actually changes, our 3-minute walkthrough covers it — no sales pitch, explained simply enough for a 5-year-old.

The bottom line

• Supply = the electricity itself, bought at auction, rate resets every 6 months
• Delivery = the wires and infrastructure, plus state program charges — and most of it scales with usage
• You pay twice per kWh, so your true rate is your total bill ÷ total kWh
• Cutting grid usage is the only lever that shrinks both halves at once