Today, United Illuminating (UI), a subsidiary of Avangrid (NYSE: AGR), announced the launch of its new bill explainer video, a 3-minute animated video explaining the four components of UI customers’ electric bills: Supply, Transmission, Local Delivery, and Public Benefits. The video, which can also be found on UI’s website under “Understand Your Bill”, is a customer education tool to accompany the launch of UI’s redesigned electric bill that customers began receiving in the February billing cycle.
“Connecticut customers’ electric bills are influenced by a wide variety of factors, including the market price of electricity generation and the costs of public policy programs implemented by the legislature and other state government agencies,” said Frank Reynolds, President & CEO of UI. “While supply and public policy costs are outside UI’s control and don’t contribute a penny to our bottom line, we understand that as the company sending the bill, it’s incumbent on us to provide our customers with resources to enhance their understanding of these charges. That’s why I’m proud our team has launched this new explainer video following our newly redesigned electric bill, and I encourage our customers to watch and share it to spread the word about how these various factors influence their monthly costs.”
The new bill explainer video is a customer education resource to explain the UI electric bill, which was redesigned beginning the in February 2024 billing cycle following four years of collaboration between UI’s Customer Service Team and the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) Office of Education, Outreach, & Enforcement (EOE). The video explains the four components of the UI electric bill:
~~ Supply, which encompasses UI’s payments to electricity generating companies for the energy they produce, currently comprising approximately 45 percent of the bill;
~~ Transmission, which pays for the interstate network of high-voltage electric lines carrying electricity from generating facilities to UI’s distribution network, currently comprising approximately 12 percent of the bill;
~~ Local Delivery, which funds UI’s poles, wires, substations, and workforce, currently comprising approximately 30 percent of the bill; and
~~ Public Benefits, which encompass the costs of public policy programs that state policymakers require UI to implement, currently comprising approximately 14 percent of the bill.
Only the Local Delivery charges are used to fund the electric distribution infrastructure that promote the reliability and resiliency of the poles, wires, and substations that comprise the local electric grid in the 17 Connecticut towns served by UI. These charges are fully transparent in the regulatory processes overseen by PURA, including and especially when the company files a rate case.
Making up the Supply section of the bill, UI passes on the charges set by electricity generating companies directly to consumers, without profit or mark-up. Connecticut’s electricity market is deregulated and electric distribution companies like UI do not own electricity generation plants, so these charges are not controlled by UI or other Connecticut utilities.
In the Public Benefits section of the bill, UI charges customers the money it expends on public policy programs implemented by the state legislature and state agencies, such as PURA and the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP), without profit or mark-up.
UI encourages customers to visit our website for more information on their bill. The new bill explainer video can be found here: Understand Your Bill – UI (uinet.com). A sample redesigned electric bill can be found here: Sample Bill – UI (uinet.com).