Electric Utility Billing

Your electricity is distributed by your local electric utility. Fairfield is served by United Illuminating (UI).

You can’t change your utility. Even if you have solar panels, you must still connect to the utility grid with your local utility.

Electricity often follows a bell curve when it comes to electricity consumption with a traditional setup with higher consumption in the Summer than in the shoulder months such as April-May or October-November. If you use electricity for heat in the Winter, you will have a less obvious curve (or none).

Your usage is typically higher in Summer months due to higher outside air temperatures requiring your HVAC system to run more often. It runs less often during milder times of years, so your usage could be lower during those months. This is normal.

Many utilities offer what is called “Budget Billing.” They take the utility rates billed in the past year, multiply it by your consumption in the past year, factor in a “risk multiplier” with the expectation that rates will increase over the next 12 months and weather may cause higher usage, and then divide that total by 12 months to get your fixed price. This may be higher or lower than what you would typically pay in a given month. Utilities do not often true-up budget billing if you pay more than you would have without it.

Unlike supply, you can’t control the distribution rates from your utility. What you can do is look at the rate schedule you are on. Most households are on the “Residential (R)” or “Residential Time-of-Use (RT)” plan with United Illuminating in Fairfield. You can tell which plan you are on by looking at the charges on your bill and determining if some of your usage is billed at a different rate than the rest.

Time-of-use plans are useful for those who shift behaviors and reduce consumption during the day. For example, instead of doing laundry mid-day, do it later in the evening or night around 9:00 pm. Electricity is cheaper at later times because there is less stress on the grid, so the utility will charge you a lower rate if you use electricity at this time.

If you already show these behaviors and are already on a time-of-use plan, there is not much more you can to do impact cost without installing energy saving measures like:

• Solar panels
• Heat Pump HVAC system
• LED lighting
• Insulation
• Triple-pane windows
• Smart Wi-Fi controlled thermostat(s)
• Newer energy efficient appliances (ovens, refrigerators, TVs, computers, etc.)

The Public Benefits charges are state-mandated line items that fund energy efficiency programs, renewable energy initiatives, low-income programs, and more.

While this feels like an unrelated electricity expense, the funds for these programs are specifically allocated to cover investments made by the state, utilities, and municipalities for the greater benefit of customers. The number of charges and their rates will vary depending on the specific programs that need funding.

Sustainable Fairfield does not have a clear answer on this at the present time. These charges do impact the electric utilities and their customers, which is why they appear on the electricity bill.

United Illuminating and Eversource reveal the names of each program and their specific purposes. Many utilities in other states bill a generic “Energy Charge” which includes every type of cost without disclosing what justifies the rate cost.

Nearly all of the charges on your electric bill are kilowatt hour-based. The lower your consumption, the lower all charges will be. The Public Benefits section of your bill is variable. The number of charges and their rates will be lower in some months, and higher in others.

Yes, a small portion of the Public Benefits charges goes to non-payers, which was particularly high during the COVID-19 pandemic. Yes, most of the cost goes towards the Millstone Power Station contract that had funds due during the pandemic, but were deferred to prevent harsh conditions for paying bills while many people were out of work and the burden of the cost has to be paid eventually. It will end and is not a perpetual expense.