How the 12-month averaging actually works
National Grid pulls your last 12 months of electric and gas kWh and therm consumption from your billing history. It projects the next 12 months at the same usage pattern, applies current delivery and supply rates, and divides the total by 12. That number is your monthly Budget amount.
Every three months, National Grid recalculates against your actual usage. If the gap is large (for example a colder winter pushed gas therms 30 percent higher than projected) the monthly amount is bumped up immediately so the year-end true-up stays manageable.
Look-back
12 months of historical kWh and therms.
Quarterly tune-ups
Every 3 months the average is re-checked against actuals.
Year-end true-up
Underpaid? Pay the gap or spread it. Overpaid? National Grid credits you back.
What you see on the bill each month
Even on the Budget Plan, your bill still shows three numbers side by side:
- ·Actual usage this month in kWh and therms, with the cost it would have been off-plan;
- ·Budget amount: the flat monthly number you actually pay;
- ·Running variance: whether you are tracking ahead of or behind the projection. This is the early-warning sign for a year-end catch-up.
Who is eligible, and who it actually suits
The eligibility test is simple: you must have no outstanding balance when you enrol. New customers can technically sign up immediately, but most benefit from waiting two or three billing cycles so National Grid has actual data to base the average on. Otherwise the early monthly amount is a flat estimate that can drift hard once your real usage shows up.
Best fit
- ·Fixed-income households where a $400 January gas bill breaks the budget;
- ·Anyone heating with gas upstate (Buffalo, Syracuse, Albany), where winter therms can run 4x to 5x the summer load;
- ·Customers who simply prefer predictable cash flow.
Less useful for
- ·Customers in flat-usage homes (small apartments, no electric heat);
- ·Customers who already auto-pay and are unbothered by seasonal swings;
- ·Anyone planning to move within the next 12 months: the year-end true-up still has to settle at move-out.
How to sign up
Two channels:
- 1.Log in to your National Grid online account and request the Budget Plan from the billing-options page.
- 2.Call customer service at 1-800-642-4272 (Monday to Friday, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. ET) with your account number from a recent bill.
Frequently asked questions
Only if National Grid materially underestimated your usage. Because the average is re-checked every 3 months, the year-end gap is usually small. A colder-than-average winter is the most common cause of an unwelcome catch-up.
Yes. Cancelling moves you back to actual monthly billing, and any outstanding Budget Plan variance becomes immediately due.
No. It only smooths the cash flow. To actually lower the total you have to lower usage or switch supply. See our electric supply prices guide and our NY supplier comparison.
If National Grid bills you for both fuels (typical upstate), the Budget Plan covers both. Downstate NYC and Long Island customers only have gas with National Grid, so the plan only covers gas.
You settle the variance on closing out the account. If you owe, pay it before transferring service; if you overpaid, you get a refund or credit on your new National Grid account.
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