Featured profiles
Connecticut electric utilities
Eversource is the IOU reference for most of CT, UI covers the southwest, and the municipal overview rolls up the half-dozen town-owned systems.
Investor-owned · IOU
Eversource Energy
formerly Connecticut Light & Power (CL&P)
Most of Connecticut: Hartford, Stamford, Norwalk, Danbury, Manchester, eastern CT
Delivery regulated by PURA, owns the wires across most of CT.
Investor-owned · IOU
United Illuminating
UI, an Avangrid company
Southwest CT: New Haven, Bridgeport, Milford, Stratford, Shelton, Orange (17 towns)
Delivery regulated by PURA, sister gas utilities CNG and SCG.
Municipal utilities
Municipal Light overview
Norwich, Wallingford, Bozrah, Groton and others
Town-owned utility territories statewide
Town owns both wires and supply, retail choice does not apply.
Delivery vs supply
Two lines on every CT bill, only one you can shop
Connecticut deregulated electricity in 2000. The market split your bill in two: the wires you cannot change, and the kilowatt-hours you can.
Delivery, set by address
The wires, poles, meter and outage response. Owned by Eversource or United Illuminating depending on where you live. Regulated by PURA, billed on the delivery line.
- ✓Same number for outages, leaks and disconnects, whether or not you switched supplier.
- !You cannot shop the delivery utility, it is set by your address.
~1.6M CT electric meters served by the two delivery utilities.
Supply, where you choose
The kilowatt-hours themselves. Default is Standard Service, auctioned and reset on 1 January and 1 July. You can switch to any licensed competitive supplier without changing wires or meter.
- ✓Fixed plans available for 12 to 36 months, useful before a winter auction.
- ✓100 percent renewable tiers above the state-mandated baseline.
Shopping portal: EnergizeCT.com, the state-run rate board.
Other Connecticut utilities
Listed for reference, not yet profiled on this site.
Municipal electric utilities (6)
- •Norwich Public Utilities (NPU), ~25K electric customers.
- •Wallingford Electric Division, ~24K electric customers.
- •Groton Utilities, ~16K electric customers.
- •Bozrah Light & Power (BL&P), ~2,400 electric customers.
- •Jewett City Department of Public Utilities.
- •Third Taxing District of Norwalk.
Municipal utilities own both the wires and the supply, so retail choice does not apply for their residents.
Natural gas utilities (3)
- •Eversource Gas of Connecticut, formerly Yankee Gas, ~240K customers.
- •Connecticut Natural Gas (CNG), an Avangrid company, ~180K customers.
- •Southern Connecticut Gas (SCG), an Avangrid company, ~205K customers.
CT natural gas is also deregulated. Distribution belongs to one of the three IOUs above, supply can be switched to a licensed marketer.
Quick answers
Common questions Connecticut households ask about their utility.
Look at the top of your last bill. Eversource Energy (formerly Connecticut Light & Power) covers most of the state, including Hartford, Stamford, Norwalk, Danbury, Manchester and eastern CT. United Illuminating covers the southwest corner, including New Haven, Bridgeport, Milford, Stratford and Shelton, about 17 towns total. If you live in Norwich, Wallingford, Bozrah, Groton or another muni town, your town runs its own electric utility. You cannot switch between them, the territory is fixed by your address.
Yes, if you are an Eversource or United Illuminating customer. Connecticut deregulated retail electricity in 2000, and PURA licenses competitive suppliers to sell the supply portion of your bill. Municipal customers (Norwich, Wallingford, Bozrah, Groton, etc.) cannot shop, because their town owns both the wires and the supply.
Standard Service is the default supply rate your IOU charges if you do not shop. It is procured at auction in 6-month blocks and reset for residential customers on 1 January and 1 July. PURA regulates the auction process and the rate is passed through at cost with no profit margin for the utility. Standard Service is not a fixed long-term plan, the winter rate can jump significantly above the summer rate.
Always your delivery utility, 24/7. Eversource Energy outage: 1-800-286-2000, or text OUT to 23129. United Illuminating outage: 1-800-722-5584. Municipal customers: call your city's utility number, usually printed on the bill. The competitive supplier you may have signed up with cannot help with outages.
The Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA), a three-member body within the CT Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. PURA regulates the IOU delivery rates, oversees the Standard Service auctions, licenses competitive suppliers and handles consumer complaints. Municipal utilities answer to their local town council, not PURA, for rates and operations.
Keep exploring CT energy
More U.S. states with energy choice
Same playbook, different utility. Pick another deregulated state to compare utilities, suppliers and switching rules.
