Utility Management Group

You've been able to choose your electricity supplier in Massachusetts for over 25 years. Most businesses never have.

Massachusetts deregulated its electricity market in the late 1990s. Since then, every business in the state has had the right to choose its supplier. The utility still delivers power and sends the bill. But the generation can come from a supplier you pick. The default rate is a backstop, not a bargain.

Eversource raised its MA supply rate 10.8% on August 1, to 17.32¢/kWh. Since January 2020, the all-in rate has climbed nearly 90%. Delivery charges are DPU-set and non-negotiable. Supply is open to competition. That's the lever you control. Utility Management Group will shop it for you.

National Grid raised its Massachusetts basic service supply rate on August 1. The new rate: 17.19 cents per kilowatt-hour, an 11.8% increase over the previous period. On a 1,000 kWh monthly bill, that's over $18 more per month — before delivery charges, taxes, or fees.

Separately, National Grid has filed a proposal for an additional increase in delivery revenue, targeting a December 1, 2026 effective date. The filing seeks roughly $144 million in additional annual delivery revenue, about a 12% increase. It's now before the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities.

Here's the part that matters for your business: the higher the utility's default "basic service" rate climbs, the more valuable it becomes to shop your supply. The default rate is what you pay if you do nothing. In a deregulated market like Massachusetts, you don't have to accept it.

The utility sets the default. You get to decide whether that's the rate you actually pay.

Massachusetts commercial rates are 24.52¢/kWh — third-highest in the nation. Natural gas dependence, grid investment, and clean-energy mandates all push rates up. But MA is deregulated, which means the supply portion of your bill is negotiable. You can't change the structural costs. You can change your supplier.

U.S. electricity demand is growing at its fastest rate in over a decade — 2.3% in 2025, 2.2% in 2026. Data centers, AI compute, and manufacturing reshoring are driving it. When demand outpaces supply, prices rise. Lock in a fixed rate before the market moves further.

$862/mo average electric bill. Overpay by 15% = $1,551/year. Over 3 years = $4,653.

That's just energy.

Add internet, processing, wireless — the waste stacks.

An audit takes an hour.

Not auditing costs you every month you wait.

Send us one bill and we'll start.

The U.S. winter forecast for late 2025 into early 2026 points to colder-than-normal conditions across the Midwest and Northeast. At the same time, natural gas prices are projected to average $4.80 per million BTU — up from $4.12 in 2025 — driven by increased LNG exports and flat domestic production growth.

Cold weather plus higher fuel costs equals one thing for businesses on variable-rate energy contracts: an expensive winter.

Fixed-rate contracts remove that variable. You know your cost per kilowatt-hour for the full term. Whether the temperature drops ten degrees or natural gas spikes 30%, your supply rate doesn't move.

The businesses that get hurt worst in winter rate spikes are the ones who didn't know their contract had expired. They locked in a rate two or three years ago, the term ended quietly, and now they're floating — often at a higher rate than what they could lock in today.

Don't wait for the first cold snap to check. By then, the best fixed rates are gone.

Credit card companies took $148.5 billion from U.S. businesses in 2024. Small businesses pay 2.5-4.2% per transaction.

On $500K in sales, that's $12,500-$21,000. 90% of merchants overpay. Most haven't reviewed their statement in years. Send us yours. It takes minutes.

PJM capacity prices jumped from $29 to $329 per megawatt-day in two years — nearly 10x. If your business is in the Mid-Atlantic or Midwest, that cost is already in your electricity bill. Your supply rate may be negotiable. Your capacity costs aren't. Get your contract reviewed.

Commercial electricity rates are projected to hit 17.6 cents per kWh in 2026 — up 3.5% from 2025. Natural gas is forecast to rise 16%.

If you're on a variable rate, your bill moves with the market.

If your contract has expired, now is the time to lock in a fixed rate.

Send us your bill.