Billing Glossary

Understanding Your Bill

Amount Due: The amount you need to pay appears in the upper right corner of the bill and on your bill stub at the bottom of the bill.

Current Charges for Electricity: The dollar amount and percentage of your current bill for each category below:

• Supply: Cost of electricity from your supplier or UI Standard Service. This cost is not regulated but is based on competitive procurements and dependent on usage. 
• Transmission: Cost to maintain high voltage towers and lines. Regulated by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. This charge is dependent on usage.
• Local Delivery: Cost of UI to build, maintain and repair poles, lines and meters that deliver power from the substation. Regulated by the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA).
• Public Benefits: Cost to support energy programs authorized by the state. Charge dependent on usage.

Kilowatt-Hour (kWh): A measure of electricity. One kWh equals one thousand watts used for one hour. If you use one 100-watt bulb for ten hours, you use one kWh. The number of kWhs on your bill is the total you used for the days covered by this bill.

Usage History: Total Monthly kWh Graph: See your detailed usage over the last 13 months with graphs and average temperature.

Estimated Bill: A bill for service that is not based on an actual meter reading for the period being billed but that is based on an estimate of how much electricity was used during the billing period. The next actual reading will adjust for any differences between actual and estimated use.

How Your Use Changed: This section shows how many kWh you used during the period and how it compares to your usage last year.

Supplier: A licensed electricity supplier. Please visit our Pricing page to learn about suppliers and UI Standard Service.

Supply Cost Comparison: This shows a comparison of your current supply costs to what you would have paid on UI Standard Service. If you have chosen another electricity supplier, important information is listed here, including your supplier rate and term.

Supplier Information: Shows contact information for your supplier.

Account Summary: This section summarizes your current charges, payments received during the billing cycle and any past-due amounts.

Meter Information Table: This meter reading summary shows the number of days in the billing cycle, the next meter read date, and your total kilowatt usage.

Total Charges for Electricity: This breaks out your charges for Supply, Transmission, Local Delivery, and Public Policy charges.

Fixed Monthly Charge: A charge for the delivery of electricity over the poles and wires to customer homes and businesses.

Low-Income Discount Rate (LIDR): Available to residential customers. If you qualify, you will receive a 10% (Tier 1) or 50% (Tier 2) discount on your current monthly charges. For example, if your current monthly charges totaled $100, you would receive a $10 or $50 discount on your bill.

Combined Public Benefits Charge: The combination of the following three charges:

• Energy Assistance Costs: Includes the costs associated with various assistance programs and outstanding balances.
• Energy Efficiency Programs: Includes costs that were previously included in the Conservation Adjustment Mechanism.
• Renewable Energy Investment: Includes cost associated with the Renewable Energy Charge set by the Connecticut General Statutes.

Non-Bypassable Federal Mandated Congestion Charge (NBFMCC): The combination of the following 4 charges:

• New England Grid Operator Cost: Includes the costs primarily associated with the New England grid operator responsible for reliably operating the electric system.
• State Mandated Energy Purchases: Includes the costs associated with state-mandated energy purchases, including Power Purchase Agreements.
• Customer Produced Energy: Includes the costs associated with tariffs the local distribution company is required to offer such as customer renewable energy programs.
• Misc. & Other Mandates: Includes other costs primarily associated with providing reliable electric service and/or other state mandates that are not included in the previous three (3) charges.

Competitive Transition Assessment (CTA): A calculation allowing UI to recover past prudent investments in generation assets (called stranded costs), as approved by the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA).

Revenue Decoupling: Revenue Decoupling allows UI to recover or pass back to customers the difference between actual revenue versus allowed revenue requirement. It’s important to note that the mechanism can translate into either a charge or credit. 
 

Important Information

Emergency Service: If you are experiencing a life-threatening electricity emergency, please call 911 immediately. Otherwise, please contact us at 800.722.5584 for electricity outages or use our online form.

Operation Fuel: A statewide program to provide emergency energy assistance to people in financial crisis. 100% of every dollar you donate is tax deductible and used for energy assistance grants.

For Your Protection: All our meter readers and meter service personnel wear UI uniforms. All employees who visit customers' premises carry a UI photo identification card and must show it upon request.

Your Rights and Responsibilities: A pamphlet explaining your rights is available upon request.

Third Party Notice: You can ask us at any time to notify a third party if your service is subject to being shut off.

Termination of Service and Customer Rights: You have the right to dispute a termination of service. You may also have service continued between November 1 and May 1 if you qualify for hardship status or have a serious illness or life-threatening medical condition.

Accounts Receivable Conversion (ARC): When you provide a check as payment, you authorize us either to use information from your check to make a one-time electronic fund transfer from your account or to process the payment as a check transaction. When we use information from your check to make an electronic fund transfer, funds may be withdrawn from your account as soon as the same day we receive your payment, and you will not receive your check back from your financial institution. For additional payment options, please visit uinet.com/Payment-And-Billing-Options.  
 

Need more assistance? 

Sign-in to or register for My Account, our easy online account management tool. Start service, analyze your energy usage, schedule automatic payments, sign-up for eBill and more.

Find all our contact information, answers to frequently asked questions (FAQs) or check out our Energy Library for UI’s monthly newsletter by visiting uinet.com/Support.

If you are unable to have your questions answered or your complaint resolved by The United Illuminating Company, you can call the Public Utility Regulatory Authority's toll-free telephone number: 800.382.4586. 
 

Payment Plans

Budget Billing:  With Budget Billing, we will bill you for an average monthly electric cost based on your actual annual use. You may enroll in this FREE service if there is no past due balance on your account.

Matching Payment Program: Available to residential customers, this program is designed to help lower energy bills for those who can demonstrate financial hardship. We will match every dollar paid by you or on your behalf up to a zero balance.

Bill Forgiveness Program: Available to residential customers who can demonstrate financial hardship and have a balance of at least $100 that is 60 days or more overdue. If you qualify, you will be placed on a budget plan for up to 36 months and we will match payments as they are made.

Flexible Payment Arrangements: Available to all residential customers, regardless of financial status. You can pay your past-due balance over a period of up to 18 months.