Third-Party Energy Suppliers

Unitil typically solicits bids from the market suppliers every six or eight months depending on the previous bid. These bid solicitations reflect the current market cost to actually make the electricity and ultimately determine the supply rate.

Over time, market prices for electricity change, depending on a number of factors, including the supply and demand for electricity. This is why Unitil obtains new bids from energy providers biannually.

The restructured electric industry in New England allows for third party electric companies to solicit customers in our service territories. Customers can elect to purchase their electricity supply from one of these competitive suppliers.

All customers not purchasing electricity supply from a competitive supplier will be placed on Unitil’s Basic service (in Massachusetts) or Unitil’s Energy service (in New Hampshire). The availability of these services ensures that no one will ever be without a supplier of electricity.

If you are thinking of selecting another provider, you should consider the following questions:

• What is the term of the contract?
• Are there minimum bill amounts?
• Are the energy prices fixed, or will they change from month to month?
• Does the supplier have a customer service center or website?
• Will the supplier bill you directly, or will charges be included on your Unitil statement?
• Are there early termination fees associated with the contract?
• Are there charges associated with leaving utility service?

Massachusetts Electric Suppliers

*Suppliers are registered for Residential (R), Commercial (C), and/or Industrial (I) supply service.

In accordance with Section 11, Electric Offer Information, of the Company's Tariff, Terms and Conditions for Competitive Suppliers, a Competitive Supplier may choose to have the Company provide customers with information on its current electric offers.

Disclosure: The details regarding Electric Offers contained herein have been submitted by Competitive Suppliers and represent an overview of certain alternative supply offers available from participating Competitive Suppliers. Unitil does not endorse or have any affiliation with the Competitive Suppliers or Electric Offers. The Electric Offers described on this page are provided for informational purposes only and do not represent legal contracts or obligations. These Electric Offers do not necessarily represent all available offers from Competitive Suppliers. For a complete list of Competitive Suppliers and their contact information, please refer to this link. Interested customers should contact the appropriate Competitive Supplier to learn about the complete terms and conditions associated with that supplier’s Electric Offers. Contracts with Competitive Suppliers may be subject to certain risks and/or penalties not fully described in the information above. For more information about retail supply in Massachusetts, please contact the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities.

The Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities hosts an interactive online tool that provides supplier information to residential and small business electric customers who seek to purchase their electric supply from the competitive market. Energy Switch Massachusetts offers comparison tools to help consumers make informed decisions on current energy supply offers. Please note that supplier participation is voluntary so not all active Unitil suppliers may be displayed. Please visit the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities’ website for a complete list of all Energy Suppliers licensed to do business in Massachusetts.

New Hampshire Electric Suppliers

*Suppliers are registered for Residential (R), Commercial (C), and/or Industrial (I) supply service.

Please visit New Hampshire Public Utilities Commission’s website for a "Shop for Electric Rates" tool to help customers compare current energy supply providers and offers. Click here for a static list of approved energy providers in New Hampshire.

Disclosure: The New Hampshire Public Utilities Commission, in making the list available, does not guarantee or make any representation regarding the financial stability or service quality of the suppliers listed.

In Massachusetts, residential customers are placed on the fixed pricing option. Fixed basic service rates will remain the same for six months at a time and are based on the weighted average price over the six-month period. Unitil sets the rates for each six-month period (effective June 1 and December 1) based on its contract with the provider. If you are assigned to this fixed pricing option, you are allowed to change to the monthly variable pricing option; however, you may only make this change once as long as you continue to receive uninterrupted basic service.

In New Hampshire, fixed energy service rates will remain the same for six months at a time and are based on the weighted average price over the six-month period. Unitil sets the rates for each six-month period (effective June 1 and December 1) based on its contract with the provider. Variable energy service rates will change from month to month to reflect the actual cost of electricity purchased each month. If you are assigned to this rate, you are allowed to change to the fixed rate; however, you may only make this change once. You can find the fixed and variable rates per kilowatt hour (kWh) on our Rates page.

In New Hampshire, fixed energy service rates will remain the same for six months at a time and are based on the weighted average price over the six-month period. Unitil will set the rates for each six-month period (effective June 1 and December 1) based on its contract with the provider. You can find the fixed and variable rates per kilowatt hour (kWh) by rate class on our Rates page.

Variable energy service rates will change from month to month to reflect the actual cost of electricity purchased each month. If you are assigned to this rate, you are allowed to change to the fixed rate; however, you may only make this change once. You can find the fixed and variable rates by month by rate class on our Rates page.

In Massachusetts, small General Service (GD-1) customers are placed on the fixed pricing option. Fixed basic service rates will remain the same for six months at a time and are based on the weighted average price over the six-month period. Unitil will set the rates for each six-month period (effective June 1 and December 1) based on its contract with the provider. If you are assigned to this fixed rate, you are allowed to change to the monthly variable rate; however, you may only make this change once as long as you continue to receive uninterrupted basic service. You can find the fixed and variable rates per kilowatt hour (kWh) by rate class on our Rates page.

Regular General Service (G2, G4, G5) customers are placed on the variable monthly pricing option. These variable basic service rates change monthly and are based on the monthly prices in Unitil’s contract with its provider. If you are assigned to this variable monthly pricing option, you are allowed to change to the fixed pricing option; however, you may only make this change once as long as you continue to receive uninterrupted basic service. You can find the fixed and variable rates per kilowatt hour (kWh) by month by rate class on our Rates page. Large General Service (G3) customers receive market based pricing which is based on actual pricing, changes monthly, and are shown on our Rates page.

If you are a regular General Service (G2, G4, G5) customer and currently receive the fixed pricing option and do decide to switch to a competitive supplier before the six-month period is over, your electric bill will be recalculated to reflect the variable pricing option from the beginning of the six month period to the date you are switched. This ensures that you pay the actual costs of the electricity you have used. The adjustment may be a credit or debit, and will be reflected on your first bill after the switch is effective. Requests to switch to a competitive supplier are made on the next regularly scheduled meter read date as long as the Company has been notified two or more business days prior to that read date.

Download sample bill recalculation

The US Environmental Protection Agency provides an online resource designed to help consumers identify renewable energy and retail renewable energy credit products available nationally or regionally. In New Hampshire, Unitil has discontinued its Renewable Source Option, also known as the Green Neighbor Program, effective December 19, 2013. Unitil appreciated your participation in the program; however, due to a lack of customer participation, it is not cost-effective to continue providing this particular service to customers. If you have an interest in renewable energy, the following is a list of some energy suppliers that offer renewable energy products:

• Community Energy, Inc.
• Renewable Choice Energy
• Sterling Planet

When a customer chooses to purchase their gas from another supplier, they still receive transportation service from Unitil. A customer who does not wish to purchase their natural gas service from another supplier, or who cannot find an attractive supply alternative, automatically receives natural gas supply and transportation service from Unitil.

Eligible natural gas customers are encouraged to shop the competitive market to compare Competitive Supplier options with basic transportation service from Unitil. Learn about choosing an energy supplier. The following links and tables provide information on licensed suppliers in our service area:

• Maine Gas Suppliers
• Massachusetts Gas Suppliers
• New Hampshire Gas Suppliers

As a Unitil business customer in Maine, you should be aware that as of November 1, 2016, several changes impacting customers who purchase their natural gas from a retail marketer went into effect.

While Unitil is always your natural gas distribution company, business customers have the option to buy their gas from retail marketers at privately negotiated prices rather than from Unitil. When you purchase from a marketer, the marketer acquires gas for you and transports it to Unitil’s system in Maine, and Unitil delivers the gas through its distribution system to your facilities.

In addition to providing distribution service in Maine, like most distribution companies in New England, Unitil acquires natural gas capacity resources, including transportation on interstate pipelines, space in underground storage facilities and peaking capacity that allow Unitil to purchase gas from other regions of the country and to meet demand on cold days. In most cases, when a customer buys gas from a marketer, Unitil allocates, or “assigns”, a share of its capacity and associated costs to the marketer in an amount that is related to the customer’s peak day usage. Some customers, who have never purchased supply from Unitil, are exempt from this capacity assignment.

The changes relative to capacity assignment and purchasing gas supply from retail marketers were implemented on November 1, 2016, include the following:

• Under current rules, the amount of capacity assigned to a marketer for each customer is set when the customer begins buying from the marketer and is never updated unless the customer chooses to buy gas from Unitil and then later returns to purchasing gas from a marketer. Starting this year, each customer’s capacity amount will be reviewed annually and updated each November 1 if the customer’s peak day demand has changed by more than 5 percent since it was last set.
• Previously, the amount of capacity assigned to a marketer was based on 50 percent of its customers’ expected peak day usage. Beginning November 2019, the amount of capacity assigned to a marketer is based on its customers’ peak day usage relative to the amount of capacity Unitil holds. In this way, each customer subject to assignment or served directly by Unitil receives a share of Unitil’s capacity that reflects their portion of demand on a peak day.
• Under previous rules, when customers stopped buying their supply from a marketer and began buying from Unitil, they were required to continue purchasing from Unitil for 12 months, a period known as the “stay period”, before they could return to purchasing their gas supply from a marketer. Starting in November 2016, customers who stop buying from a marketer and revert to Unitil for supply must remain on Unitil supply through the end of the winter period, which is April 30.
• Previously, a “re-entry” fee was charged to customers who stopped buying gas from a marketer and began buying from Unitil. That fee did not vary with usage. Starting in November 2016, customers who revert to Unitil for supply will pay a usage based surcharge that reflects the additional cost, if any, of the supply to serve such returning customers. The surcharge is in addition to Unitil’s standard cost of supply. This surcharge will apply only during the stay period, which is through the following April.

You may contact a marketer or an energy broker for guidance on your supply purchasing options and decisions. The Maine Public Utilities Commission maintains a list of active, licensed retail natural gas suppliers and brokers here. You may also contact Unitil Customer Service at 1-888-301-7700 for further information. The Maine Public Utilities Commission has approved the content of this message.