A Boston renter's electric bill is prompting a familiar question for residents across Massachusetts: whether they are getting ripped off.
In this case, the renter told the r/boston subreddit that a single-occupant studio apartment came with a $284 Eversource bill, and the delivery charges were even higher than the cost of the electricity itself.
Here's what to know
In the Reddit post, they said the bill covered July 24 to Aug. 21, 2026, and showed 779 kilowatt-hours of use. Delivery was listed at about $0.184 per kilowatt-hour on the renter's second Eversource bill, which is higher than the roughly $0.165 per kilowatt-hour generation charge.
The renter described living alone in a studio with one bathroom, working away from home most weekdays, and running the air conditioner at night before turning it off each morning.
"I'm really concerned about the cost because I am not home during the day, have very minimal items (for example no TV, no PC, no pets etc), and Eversource actually made a mistake my first bill which was corrected later," they added. "Finally, other people pay way less."
The resident said a building technician did not see anything obviously wrong and estimated that people in the building typically pay about $70 to $110 per month. Eversource was also expected to send a technician to inspect the meter.
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The post picked up more than 2,200 upvotes and more than 300 comments, and prompted a lot of venting about Eversource.
"Unfortunately, those numbers sound right within 20-30 bucks," a user said.
More background
It can be difficult to tell whether a massive bill is being driven by unusually high usage, a faulty meter, an inefficient appliance, or simply very high rates.
Much of the discussion centered on the gap between supply and delivery costs.
One commenter who posted a breakdown from another apartment said, "Delivery charges are ridiculous."
Another said they had paid "over $500" for a month of electricity and that the delivery charge was higher than the cost of the power used.
Other commenters thought the problem might not be rates alone. One said it "seems really high," and suggested checking whether the air conditioner, dryer, dishwasher, or even another unit connected to the same meter could be pushing usage up.
What can be done?
The resident was taking appropriate steps to have Eversource inspect the meter and had already had building management review the major appliances.
Another commenter suggested using smart plugs to measure how much electricity individual devices consume, including items that might still be drawing power when the apartment is empty. They pointed to certain appliances as possible drivers of the bill like air conditioning.
Zooming out, a user pointed to problems outside of Eversource for the high rates.
"A lot of it has to do with our reliance on natural gas without good infrastructure for it and efforts to use hydro and wind being hampered politically," they opined.
Where can I learn more?
Boston isn't the only place where sky-high utility bills, stress over electricity costs, and questions about utility spending are top of mind for residents.
• In Michigan, a renter said high electric bills were expected even without air conditioning.
• A tenant said their first utility bill spiked after apartment heat and window issues.
• Across America, many are losing sleep as distrust of power bills keeps growing.
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