Supply Rates, Public Benefits Charge to Drive Price Change for UI Customers in Winter 2026

Beginning January 1, UI residential customers will see 4% lower bills compared to winter 2025 due to lower Public Benefits Charge, and 3% higher bills than summer 2025 due to consistently higher supply rates in winter than in summer 

 

Neither supply rates or Public Benefits Charge are controlled by UI, which also does not profit from these bill components 

 

ORANGE, Conn. — November 17, 2025 — Following its filing of the new standard service supply rates today, United Illuminating (UI), a subsidiary of Avangrid, Inc., announced that UI residential customers will see a 4% decrease in their monthly overall electric rates in winter 2026 compared to winter 2025 (January 1-June 30, 2025) and a 3% increase in monthly electric rates compared to the current summer rates period (July 1-December 31, 2025), reflecting stability in the market. From January 1-June 30, 2026, the average residential UI customer using 700 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity will pay $252.12. In the same period in 2025, the average residential UI customer paid $262.97, whereas in the current summer period, the average residential UI customer is paying $244.28. The bill changes are driven primarily by the components of the electric bill that are outside UI’s control, as decreases in the Public Benefits Charge that took effect this fall combine with supply rates that are virtually always higher in the winter than in the summer. The cost of energy supply and the Public Benefits Charge are pass-through costs for UI; UI does not mark up, control, or profit from supply rates or the Public Benefits Charge. 

 

“Following several years of wildly fluctuating electricity supply rates, I am glad to see some stability return to this marketplace, which limits rate shock for customers,” said Frank Reynolds, President & CEO of UI. “While we have not controlled or profited from electricity supply costs in nearly 30 years, we know customers are counting on us to advocate for ways to bring more electricity supply into New England that will lower these rates over the long term. In the meantime, UI is here to help our customers, especially those facing financial hardship, and I encourage customers who are struggling to pay their electricity bill to take advantage of our many assistance programs and to explore their options for alternate energy suppliers at www.EnergizeCT.com.”  

 

The decreases in the overall winter electric bill between this year and last year are driven by the state legislature’s decision to cut the Public Benefits Charge using state bonding funds, which went into effect in September 2025. The supply rate, meanwhile, will change very little year-over-year between winter 2025 (13.57 cents per kWh) and winter 2026 (13.70 cents per kWh), an increase of just 0.9% for residential UI customers. Electricity supply rates in the wintertime are virtually always higher than in the summer, a trend that will hold in the first half of 2026 as supply rates increase to 13.70 cents per kWh from 11.68 cents per kWh currently (July 1-December 30, 2025). This customary winter rate increase is due to constrained fuel supply: while natural gas is used to fuel the majority of New England’s electricity generation, many customers across the region also utilize natural gas for residential and commercial heating. The high demand requires supplemental fuel supplies of imported Liquefied Natural Gas and fuel oil in the colder months, which drives up the cost of electricity generation. 

 

For approximately 83% of UI customers who opt to use the standard service supply rate, UI procures energy supply on their behalf under the oversight of the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA); per Connecticut law, the charges represent a complete pass-through cost collected from customers on behalf of energy supplier companies, with no profit or mark-up to UI. Electricity supply rates change twice per year, on January 1 and July 1. Connecticut, along with all New England states except Vermont, deregulated electricity supply in the late 1990s, meaning that UI does not own electricity generation facilities and does not have a role in setting its price. To determine the price of its standard service offering, UI purchases, or procures, electricity at the market rate from generating companies and passes it on to customers. This procurement process, which is overseen and signed off on by PURA, takes place in four procurements at different times throughout the year, which intends to balance any swings in the market. 

 

Because of deregulation, UI customers can obtain their energy supply from alternate suppliers. UI encourages customers to explore offerings the EnergizeCT rate board, where they may be able to obtain lower rates than UI’s standard service offering. Alternate suppliers can also provide customers with other customizable choices; for example, customers can choose an energy supplier that only generates electricity using renewable sources such as solar or wind power. Because Connecticut law prohibits alternate suppliers in Connecticut from charging termination fees, customers may switch suppliers as often as they like, though it may take up to two billing cycles for changes to take effect. Customers may visit the EnergizeCT Rate Board at https://energizect.com/rate-board/choosing-a-supplier. 

 

UI also encourages customers who are struggling to pay their electricity bills to explore assistance and bill management programs. More information on assistance programs, including the low-income discount rate (LIDR), Matching Payment Program, and budget billing, is available at www.uinet.com/HelpWithBill. All customers, regardless of their income, are also encouraged to maximize the efficiency of their homes and businesses with an audit through EnergizeCT. Customers can visit https://energizect.com/explore-solutions/energy-evaluations for more information and to sign up.