Massachusetts Basic Service vs Competitive Suppliers Guide

Basic Service is what you get by default when you don't pick a competitive supplier. Your utility – Eversource, National Grid, or Unitil – just handles it automatically.

Here's what makes Basic Service different from what you might expect. Massachusetts utilities don't make a dime from selling you electricity. Zero profit. They're middlemen who buy power at wholesale prices and pass those exact costs through to you. The Department of Public Utilities (DPU) watches this whole process to make sure nobody's getting gouged.

Every six months, your utility runs a competitive bidding process. Wholesale suppliers submit their best offers. The lowest bidders win. That winning price becomes your Basic Service rate for the next six months. No markup. No profit margin. Just straight wholesale cost.

They call this your "Price to Compare" – and that name matters. It's literally the benchmark you should use when some competitive supplier tries to sell you on switching. Beat this number and you might save money. Don't beat it and you're wasting your time.

One more thing that doesn't change: your utility still owns the poles and wires. They're still delivering your electricity and fixing outages. That part never changes no matter who supplies your power.

Massachusetts utilities run these auctions twice a year. It's pretty simple when you break it down.

Eversource and National Grid put out a call for bids from wholesale suppliers. Those suppliers submit their best prices. The DPU makes sure nobody's trying to game the system. The lowest bids win, and that becomes your rate for the next six months.

January rates cover January through June. July rates cover July through December. They split it this way to avoid having all the expensive winter heating months in one rate period. Spreads out the pain a bit.

Here's a real example. Eversource went from 13.241 cents per kilowatt-hour to 14.884 cents starting August 1, 2025. That's a 12.3% jump. Ouch. But it reflects actual wholesale market costs with zero markup for the utility.

Your bill shows your current rate. You can also check your utility's website. Don't trust old numbers when comparing supplier offers – rates change every six months.

Competitive supply lets you buy your electricity from DPU-licensed companies instead of your utility's Basic Service. Companies like Constellation Energy, Direct Energy, and Clearview Energy – you've probably seen their ads or had them knock on your door.

The big difference? These are for-profit businesses. They need to make money for their shareholders. Basic Service passes through wholesale costs with zero markup. Competitive suppliers add their profit margin on top. That's not automatically bad, but it matters when you're comparing prices.

They offer three main types of rates. Fixed-rate plans lock in one price for your whole contract term. Variable-rate plans change every month based on market conditions. And "teaser" rates start low to get you in the door, then jump after a few months.

Switching is simple. You enroll directly with the competitive supplier. They handle notifying your utility about the change. Your utility keeps delivering the electricity and sending you bills. Nothing physical changes. You just pay a different supplier for the generation part of your bill.

The Massachusetts Attorney General's Office has been tracking this for years, and the numbers aren't pretty.

Their January 2025 report showed residential customers lost $73.7 million compared to Basic Service during just one year (July 2023 to June 2024). That's not a small rounding error. That's real money coming out of people's pockets.

Look at the bigger picture and it gets worse. From July 2015 through June 2024, residential customers collectively lost over $500 million to competitive suppliers. Half a billion dollars. And it's not like this happened once. Reports in 2018, 2019, and 2021 all found the same pattern: most customers lose money when they switch.

The Attorney General got so frustrated they proposed ending the individual residential electric supply market entirely. Ban competitive suppliers from signing up individual homeowners. Let them keep working with businesses and municipal programs where it sometimes works, but stop letting them prey on residential customers who don't know better.

The takeaway is pretty clear: most people should stick with Basic Service. The data shows it saves you money.

Why do so many people lose money with competitive suppliers? The tricks are pretty consistent.

Teaser rates hook you with a low introductory price, then jack it up after a few months. Variable rates can spike to double Basic Service rates during high-demand periods – you think you're saving money until January hits and your bill explodes. Sticky pricing means suppliers keep charging high rates even when wholesale markets drop. And auto-renewals quietly roll you into expensive standard rates without making it obvious.

Then there's the overhead. Competitive suppliers spend money on marketing, advertising, customer acquisition, and profit margins for their shareholders. Basic Service doesn't have any of those costs. It's just wholesale electricity at cost.

Watch out for the sales tactics too. Door-to-door salespeople with misleading claims about how much you'll save. Telemarketers with aggressive pitches. They're not lying exactly, but they're sure as hell not giving you the full picture.

Basic Service is nonprofit pass-through pricing. Competitive suppliers need to make money for shareholders. That's the fundamental difference right there.

Look, I'm not saying competitive supply is always a scam. There are specific situations where it might work out.

If you time it right and lock in a long-term fixed rate when wholesale prices are low, you might save money if the market spikes later. That's a big if though. You're betting on future energy prices.

Some people want 100% renewable energy and they're willing to pay extra for it. Basic Service doesn't give you that option, so competitive suppliers fill that gap.

Fixed rates give you budget certainty. Instead of wondering what your rate will be every six months, you lock in for 12 or 24 months and you know exactly what you're paying.

Business customers with huge usage can sometimes negotiate custom deals that residential customers can't touch. And municipal aggregation programs where your whole city negotiates rates in bulk? Those work pretty well most of the time.

If you're going to do this, stick with fixed-rate plans from reputable suppliers with contracts you can understand. Avoid supplier contracts that automatically roll you into their month-to-month variable rate when your term ends.

First thing: find out what you're paying for Basic Service right now. It's on your utility bill under "Price to Compare" or you can check mass.gov. Don't compare against some number you remember from six months ago.

ElectricRates.org does the math for you. Massachusetts customers can see how competitive supplier rates stack up against their current Basic Service rate without pulling out a calculator.

Let's say Basic Service is 14.884 cents per kilowatt-hour and some supplier offers 13.5 cents fixed for 12 months. That's 1.384 cents per kilowatt-hour in savings. Multiply that by your monthly usage and you'll see what you save.

Here's where people mess up. They forget to ask about monthly fees. A supplier charging 13.5 cents plus a $10 monthly fee might cost more than 14.884 cents with no fee. You need to know what happens when your contract ends too. Auto-renewal into a variable rate can wipe out a year of savings in three months.

And read the actual contract, not just the sales pitch. I know it's boring. Do it anyway. The advertised rate might not include all the charges, and you won't find out until your first bill arrives.

Eversource is the big one. About 1.4 million customers across Greater Boston, the South Shore, and Western Massachusetts.

As of August 2025, their residential Basic Service rate is around 14.884 cents per kilowatt-hour. That's just the supply part – the actual electricity generation. Your delivery charges (maintaining poles, wires, and responding to outages) are separate and don't change regardless of who supplies your power.

Rates change every six months in January and July. You're automatically on the 6-month fixed-price option unless you picked something else. Check eversource.com or grab your monthly bill to see your current rate. Look for "Price to Compare" – that's your Basic Service generation charge.

When some supplier tries to sell you on switching, compare their rate against YOUR specific Price to Compare. Not what your neighbor pays. Not what you paid six months ago. What you're paying right now.

National Grid covers about 1.3 million customers in central Massachusetts and chunks of Greater Boston.

Their rate structure works the same as Eversource. Rates adjust twice a year in January and July through DPU-supervised competitive bidding. What they pay at wholesale is what you pay. Zero profit markup.

Most residential customers get the 6-month fixed pricing option by default. But National Grid also offers monthly pricing if you'd rather have shorter rate periods. Not sure why you'd want that (more volatility, same average cost), but it's there if you want it.

Find your rate at nationalgridus.com or on your monthly bill. Look for "Price to Compare" – that's your Basic Service generation charge.

Same rule as Eversource: compare supplier offers against YOUR specific utility's current Basic Service rate. Not someone else's. Yours.

Switching back to Basic Service is easy. Way easier than switching away from it in the first place.

Call your competitive supplier and cancel your contract. Check if there's an early termination fee (there might be if you're ending the contract before it expires). Then wait. You'll automatically get switched back to Basic Service at your next meter read.

Here's what you don't need to do: contact Eversource or National Grid. They handle the transition automatically. You don't pay them any penalty for coming back. There's no utility-imposed waiting period. You just cancel with the supplier and you're done.

If your supplier refuses to process the cancellation or tries to charge you unauthorized fees, file a complaint with the Massachusetts DPU at 1-877-886-5066. Keep records of everything – your cancellation request, any emails or letters, all of it. Makes it easier if you need to prove your case.