Eversource Service Territory Map: MA Coverage Guide

Walk into almost any home in Boston, Cambridge, or on Cape Cod and the electric bill on the counter will say Eversource. The company became a household name in Massachusetts in 2015, when Northeast Utilities — which had completed its merger with NSTAR back in 2012 — rebranded itself and its Boston-area utility, NSTAR Electric Company, under the Eversource Energy name. If you have old bills that say NStar Electric or NStar Electric Co, those accounts are now managed entirely under the Eversource brand. The transition was overseen by the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities (DPU), which continues to regulate Eversource's distribution rates, service standards, and Basic Service supply rates today.

The practical effect for customers is simple: the NStar name is gone, but the territory boundaries, account numbers, and grid infrastructure carried over intact. Anyone who references "NStar electric" in a web search is almost certainly looking for Eversource.

Eversource holds the distribution franchise for a large arc of Massachusetts that includes the Greater Boston area, MetroWest, most of the South Shore, Cape Cod, and significant portions of central and western Massachusetts. In broad geographic terms, the territory spans from the New Hampshire border in the north down through Boston and the inner suburbs, then fans out toward Worcester and beyond.

Some of the largest cities and towns inside Eversource territory include Boston, Cambridge, Framingham, Newton, Waltham, Springfield, and the entire Cape Cod peninsula. That footprint makes Eversource the dominant electric utility in the state by customer count.

The boundary between Eversource and National Grid territory is not always intuitive. Two neighboring towns can sit in different utility territories, which is why the address-level lookup tools at ElectricRates.org Massachusetts or the state's own Energy Switch Massachusetts portal are the most reliable way to confirm coverage.

The fastest method is to check your electric bill. The utility name appears prominently in the header, and the bill will clearly state Eversource (or in older documents, NStar Electric Co). If you do not have a bill handy, there are two straightforward digital options.

First, the Energy Switch Massachusetts portal, operated under DPU oversight, lets you enter a zip code or address and returns your utility assignment along with competitive supplier offers available in that territory. Second, Eversource's own website at eversource.com has a service-area section that confirms coverage by address.

For a side-by-side rate comparison that includes both the Eversource Basic Service rate and current competitive offers, ElectricRates.org's Massachusetts page pulls live market data in one place.

National Grid serves a second large territory in Massachusetts, generally covering Worcester and central Massachusetts, the Merrimack Valley, the North Shore, the South Coast, and other regions outside the Eversource franchise, as well as all of Nantucket. They are the two largest investor-owned electric distribution companies in the state (plus National Grid's separate Nantucket operation), alongside Unitil in the Fitchburg area and roughly 40 municipal light plants, so most — but not all — Massachusetts addresses belong to one of those two franchises.

As of August 2026, the Basic Service rates at both utilities are close to each other: Eversource sits at roughly 17.3 cents/kWh and National Grid (including Nantucket) is around 17.2 cents/kWh. The similarity means that choosing a competitive supplier matters about equally in either territory, but the specific suppliers and contract terms available can differ across the two service areas. A supplier licensed in Massachusetts may offer service to Eversource customers, National Grid customers, or both, so always filter by your own utility when shopping.

Every Eversource customer who has not signed a contract with a competitive supplier automatically receives supply through Basic Service, the default supply rate set by the DPU. Basic Service is not a penalty or a bad deal by design. The DPU requires Eversource to procure Basic Service supply through competitive bidding, so the rate reflects wholesale market conditions on a rolling basis.

As of August 2026, the Eversource Basic Service rate is approximately 17.3 cents per kilowatt-hour. That rate appears as the supply portion of your bill and is separate from the distribution charge, which covers poles, wires, and meter reading regardless of which supplier you use.

Basic Service rates reset on a schedule set by the DPU (typically every six months for residential customers), so the figure can move up or down at each reset. For the most current number at any given moment, the DPU's website and ElectricRates.org both carry updated figures.

Yes. Massachusetts has had retail electric choice since 1998, and Eversource customers are free to shop for a competitive supplier at any time without affecting their distribution service. The wires, outage response, and billing relationship with Eversource stay in place regardless of who supplies the electricity.

As of August 2026, the lowest competitive supplier rate available in Massachusetts is around 15.7 cents/kWh, though that figure can vary by utility territory and contract length. Fixed-rate contracts lock in a price for a defined term, which can be useful if wholesale rates are rising. Variable-rate contracts can offer savings when market prices fall but carry more month-to-month uncertainty.

A few practical points for Eversource customers considering a switch:

Check for enrollment fees and cancellation terms. Some suppliers charge a fee to exit before the contract ends. Read the terms carefully before signing.

Confirm the supplier is licensed by the DPU. Massachusetts requires all competitive suppliers serving residential customers to hold a DPU license. The DPU maintains a public list.

Watch for introductory rates. Some offers feature a promotional rate for the first few months before reverting to a higher variable rate. Make sure you know what rate applies after any introductory period ends.

Income-eligible Eversource customers may qualify for Eversource's Discount Rate (the R-2 residential assistance rate), a DPU-approved 42% discount applied to the total electric bill. The program is administered through Eversource directly, and eligibility is generally tied to participation in certain state or federal assistance programs. Contact Eversource customer service or visit eversource.com to begin an application.

Separately, the federal LIHEAP (Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program) provides heating and cooling bill assistance to qualifying households in Massachusetts. LIHEAP is administered by the state's Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities. Eligibility thresholds and benefit amounts are set annually, so check with that office or a local community action agency for current figures rather than relying on any third-party summary.

Both programs can stack with competitive supplier savings in some cases, though the interaction depends on individual circumstances. The DPU website has guidance on how discounts apply when a customer is enrolled with a competitive supplier.

Eversource publishes service territory maps and a list of the communities it serves on its Service Territory page, and there are other reliable ways to confirm coverage. Eversource's website includes a service-area tool that accepts an address and confirms whether that location falls under its franchise. For a broader geographic view, the Massachusetts DPU's utility resource filings include service territory descriptions tied to each utility's distribution license.

For most practical purposes, an address-level lookup is more useful than a regional map, because the boundary between Eversource and National Grid can cut through a single zip code in some areas. Zip codes like those near the Worcester metro or the South Shore can straddle the line, so a map zoomed to the town level may not be precise enough.

The cleanest approach is to enter your full street address into either the Energy Switch Massachusetts portal or ElectricRates.org to get a confirmed utility assignment and a list of competitive offers sorted specifically for your territory.

Confirming your utility territory is step one. Once you know you are an Eversource customer, the next move is simple: compare your current Basic Service rate of roughly 17.3 cents/kWh (as of August 2026) against what competitive suppliers are offering in the Eversource territory.

If a licensed supplier offers a fixed rate meaningfully below Basic Service and the contract terms are clean, switching can reduce the supply line on your bill without any change in how your power is delivered. If the spread is small or contract terms are unfavorable, staying on Basic Service is a perfectly reasonable choice. The DPU designed Basic Service specifically as a backstop for customers who do not want to actively manage their supply.

For live rate comparisons filtered to Eversource territory, visit ElectricRates.org or the state's Energy Switch Massachusetts portal. Both tools are free and require no personal information to browse available offers.