A Taunton light plant home using 600 kilowatt-hours pays about half what Eversource and National Grid customers nearby pay
The city's light plant charges 14.221 cents a kilowatt-hour on the first 600 before its power cost adjustment. At that use, Eversource and National Grid customer and delivery charges alone come to more than the whole TMLP bill paid within 10 days.
TAUNTON A Taunton Municipal Lighting Plant household that uses 600 kilowatt-hours in a month pays $116.68 when it pays the bill within 10 days, under the plant's posted rates. The same 600 kilowatt-hours cost $225.75 for an Eversource customer in nearby Freetown or in New Bedford and $250.71 for a National Grid customer in Dighton, Rehoboth or Fall River, at the two companies' current rates for standard residential service.
That puts the light plant's bill at about half of either company's for the same use: $109.07 a month less than Eversource and $134.03 less than National Grid, by our arithmetic from each utility's own rate sheets. Before the plant's 5% discount for paying within 10 days, the TMLP bill is $122.82.
The state's Energy Switch site lists the light plant as the electric company for the Taunton and Berkley ZIP codes and for part of Dighton, and the plant's rates page says it has more than 38,000 customers. The private supply offers listed on Energy Switch are not available to customers of municipal light plants, the site says.
How the three bills add up
The comparison uses one household for all three: 600 kilowatt-hours a month, the average monthly use Eversource gave for its bill example in a 2024 rate announcement, in a home not heated by electricity, on each utility's standard residential rate (TMLP Rate 01, Eversource R-1 and National Grid R-1).
| Charge | TMLP | Eversource | National Grid |
|---|---|---|---|
| Customer or service charge | $16.50 | $10.00 | $10.00 |
| Distribution | $10.45 | $59.02 | $66.17 |
| Transmission | $14.99 | $28.04 | $32.78 |
| Transition, efficiency and other charges | $20.51 | $24.75 | $38.65 |
| Power supply | $39.37 | $103.94 | $103.11 |
| Power cost adjustment | $24.00 | None | None |
| PASNY hydropower credit | ($3.00) | None | None |
| Total | $122.82 | $225.75 | $250.71 |
| Total if paid within 10 days | $116.68 | $225.75 | $250.71 |
TMLP's residential tariff, M.D.P.U. No. 154, has been in effect since July 1, 2022. It charges a $16.50 service charge at any use above 300 kilowatt-hours and 14.221 cents per kilowatt-hour on the first 600: 1.742 cents for distribution, 3.418 cents for the transition charge, 2.499 cents for transmission and 6.562 cents for generation.
On top of that comes the power cost adjustment. The plant's rates page describes it as the actual cost to generate and buy power minus the generation charge and says TMLP can set it quarterly. TMLP's online residential rate calculator applies 4 cents per kilowatt-hour, $24 on this bill. The calculator also takes off the PASNY credit, from a wholesale hydropower agreement with New York that the plant says is strictly for the benefit of residential customers, at half a cent per kilowatt-hour in each month from May through October.
Eversource charges a $10 monthly customer charge and delivery charges of 18.635 cents per kilowatt-hour in effect from Sept. 1 through Dec. 31. The largest pieces are distribution at 9.837 cents, transmission at 4.673 cents and an energy efficiency charge of 2.292 cents for the area around New Bedford and Plymouth. Its basic service supply price is 17.323 cents from Aug. 1 through Jan. 31.
National Grid also charges $10 a month and delivery charges of 22.933 cents per kilowatt-hour, effective July 1, led by distribution at 11.028 cents, transmission at 5.464 cents, energy efficiency at 2.713 cents and a net metering recovery surcharge of 2.451 cents. Its fixed basic service price is 17.185 cents from Aug. 1 through Jan. 31.
At this use, the customer and delivery charges together come to $121.81 a month on the Eversource bill and $147.60 on the National Grid bill, more than the TMLP bill paid within 10 days in both cases.
Fourteen South Coast cities and towns buy power for enrolled residents through town electricity programs at 14.346 cents per kilowatt-hour, as South Coast 360 reported earlier Saturday. Even at that price, the 600 kilowatt-hour bill would be $207.89 with Eversource delivery and $233.68 with National Grid delivery.
Bigger users
TMLP charges more for each kilowatt-hour past 600, 18.226 cents instead of 14.221 before the adjustment, because its distribution and generation charges step up at that point. Eversource and National Grid charge the same rate for every kilowatt-hour on R-1. At 1,000 kilowatt-hours a month, the TMLP bill is $209.73, or $199.24 paid within 10 days, against $369.58 at Eversource and $411.18 at National Grid.
Help with the bill
TMLP gives head-of-household customers who receive Supplemental Security Income a credit equal to the monthly service charge, $16.50 at this use, certified each year on the plant's forms. Eversource's R-2 residential assistance rate takes 42% off the total bill, and National Grid's R-2 low-income discount runs from 32% to 71%, the companies' rate sheets show.
Federal fuel assistance for Taunton, Berkley and Dighton runs through Citizens for Citizens, whose Taunton office is at 1 Taunton Green, 508-823-6346, the agency says. Applicants send a copy of a current heating or electric bill as proof of residence.
What could change
Eversource and National Grid set new basic service prices for Feb. 1, 2027, and Eversource says its delivery rates change each Jan. 1 and July 1. Under Gov. Maura Healey's Oct. 5 energy emergency order, the state is to cover the SMART solar charge on residential bills for January through March, as South Coast 360 reported Oct. 29. At 600 kilowatt-hours that charge is $3.50 on an Eversource bill and $5.61 on a National Grid bill. The TMLP tariff has no such charge.
TMLP's tariff says the power cost adjustment is figured for each quarter and updated monthly, and that the projected adjustment for the next calendar year is calculated by Oct. 31, so the figure on Taunton bills can change through the winter. The calculator lists the half-cent PASNY credit only for the months of May through October, and the plant's rates page says the discount fluctuates with the market.
How we did it
Every bill and difference here is our arithmetic from each utility's posted rates, rounded line by line to the cent as a bill shows it. The totals leave out late charges and optional add-ons such as TMLP's Go Green renewable program. TMLP's calculator also lists the two companies' bills. It matches our Eversource figure and shows National Grid $3.64 lower at 600 kilowatt-hours. Our National Grid figures come from the company's own July 1 delivery sheet and Aug. 1 supply price.
Label: Reported by us, from the town's posted records.
Notes
Every rate comes from the utilities' own posted rate sheets and pages and from the state's Energy Switch site: TMLP's residential tariff, rates page and residential rate calculator, Eversource's Eastern Massachusetts delivery rates, and National Grid's July 1 delivery summary and residential basic service table. We read them on Oct. 29 and Oct. 31. Every bill, total and difference is our arithmetic from those rates for one household using 600 kilowatt-hours a month, and 1,000 for the larger case, rounded to the cent line by line; the TMLP calculator gives the same TMLP totals. We checked each date and weekday against a calendar. Not heard: no person or office is accused in this story.
Corrections
No corrections to this story. If something here is wrong, tell us. Every correction is dated on the story and listed in our public log.
Sources (10)
- Taunton Municipal Lighting Plant: Residential Service, General (Rates 01, 05, 11), M.D.P.U. No. 154, effective July 1, 2022, with the Power Cost Adjustment Clause, Service Classification No. 1, M.D.T.E. No. 123Service charge, distribution, transition, transmission and generation charges; the power cost adjustment applied to all kilowatt-hours, calculated for each quarter and updated monthly, next year's projection by Oct. 31; SSI credit. Read Oct. 29, 2026.
- Taunton Municipal Lighting Plant: RatesWhat makes up the rate: power cost adjustment, PASNY discount, 5% prompt payment discount within 10 days, more than 38,000 customers; links the residential rate calculator. Read Oct. 29, 2026.
- TMLP Residential Rate Comparison (the residential rate calculator linked from TMLP's rates page)Rate 1, non-electric heat, run at 600 and 1,000 kWh: PPCA $24.00 and $40.00, PASNY credit ($3.00) and ($5.00), PASNY rate ($0.005) per kWh for May through October 2026, prompt payment discount. Read Oct. 31, 2026.
- Eversource: Electric Delivery Rates, Eastern MassachusettsResidential non-heating R-1 and R-2 delivery charges effective Sept. 1, 2026, to Dec. 31, 2026; R-2 42% discount; delivery rates change Jan. 1 and July 1. Read Oct. 31, 2026.
- Energy Switch Massachusetts (state Department of Energy Resources and Attorney General's Office)Eversource basic service 17.323 cents and National Grid 17.185 cents, Aug. 2026 through Jan. 2027; electric company by ZIP code for Taunton, Berkley, Dighton, Freetown, Rehoboth, Fall River and New Bedford; supply offers not available to municipal light plant customers. Read Oct. 31, 2026.
- Massachusetts Electric Company (National Grid): Summary of Electric Delivery Service Rates, M.D.P.U. No. 1-26-GR-1 customer charge and delivery charges, effective July 1, 2026, issued May 21, 2026; R-2 low-income discount 32% to 71%. Read Oct. 31, 2026.
- National Grid: Basic Service Rates for Customers on Residential rate classes (8.1.2026)Fixed price option 17.185 cents, Aug. 1, 2026, to Jan. 31, 2027. Read Oct. 31, 2026.
- Citizens for Citizens: Fuel AssistanceService area includes Taunton, Berkley, Dighton and Lakeville; Taunton office, 1 Taunton Green, (508) 823-6346; proof of residence with a current heating or electric bill. Read Oct. 31, 2026.
- South Coast 360: State will take the solar charge off electric bills January to March and offer up to $680 to middle-income oil heat households, Oct. 29, 2026Executive Order 659 (Oct. 5, 2026): SMART distributed solar charge covered by the state, January to March 2027. Read Oct. 31, 2026.
- Eversource: Basic Service customers to see decrease in electric supply rate, Nov. 22, 2024Customers who use an average of 600 kWh per month. Read Oct. 31, 2026.