Competitive Electric Supply

The Attorney General’s Office has found that Massachusetts residential consumers pay high rates for competitive electric supply. Learn more about the competitive electric supply market and find resources to help with questions or problems.

On March 29, 2018, the Attorney General’s Office released a report that found that Massachusetts residential consumers paid competitive electric suppliers $176.8 million more than they would have paid for electricity from their utility between July, 2015 – June, 2017. The report also found that low-income consumers are more likely to sign-up for competitive supply and are more likely to be charged higher rates.

On August 1, 2019, the Attorney General’s Office released an updated report that found that Massachusetts residential consumers paid competitive electric suppliers $76.2 million more than they would have paid for electricity from their utility between July 2017 – June 2018.

On April 1, 2021, the Attorney General’s Office released an updated report that found that Massachusetts residential consumers paid competitive electric suppliers $173 million more than they would have paid for electricity from their utility between July 2018 – June 2020. This new data brings the total net losses to $426 million for Massachusetts residents over the course of five years (July 2015 – June 2020). The 2021 update also found that low-income households who directly contract with a supplier continue to be disproportionately affected.

In order to prevent further harm, the Attorney General has called for an end to the individual residential electric supply market. The Attorney General filed legislation in January 2019 that would ban suppliers from contracting directly with residential customers. The legislation would not change Massachusetts’ cities and towns municipal aggregation programs or the markets for commercial and industrial electric supply.

If you are in a dispute with a competitive electric supplier, you can file a consumer complaint with the Attorney General's Office.

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