As you probably know, electricity rates in Connecticut have risen sharply, due in large part to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The conflict is putting pressure on the price of natural gas.  The “standard offer” through Eversource for the generation portion of your bill has gone from 12.2 to 24.17 cents per kWh. Here’s what you can do.

At the moment, residential customers can get a lower generation rate of around 15-16 cents per kWh by signing up for the 3^rd party supplier at EnergizeCT. Click on the green box labelled “Supplier Rate Finder” and then choose “Eversource Residential.”  You will see all the offers listed. State law now prohibits 3rd party suppliers from charging an “early termination” or cancellation fee, so you will be able to switch suppliers again at a later date if and when rates go down. These 3^rd party rate offers have been going down a bit over the past month and they may continue to do so. Notice what renewable energy credits (RECs) are associated with the offer. A REC is a measure of the price difference between electricity generated from fossil fuel and electricity produced by a renewable source, and buying them supports renewable energy projects elsewhere, sometimes locally, sometimes in distant states, depending on the quality of the RECs.  100% RECs means that the supplier has purchased RECs for 100% of the electricity sold under that offer.