Connecticut

Why is it like this in Connecticut?

Connecticut shares New England's structural electricity-cost problem: pipeline constraints, aging infrastructure, and the cost of clean-energy mandates have pushed residential rates to about 27.8¢/kWh. Combined with relatively normal gasoline prices, the result is one of the few U.S. states where filling up a plug-in hybrid is currently cheaper than charging it. Through 2024 and early 2026, the cost advantage of gasoline was small but real. The Iran conflict has temporarily reversed it: at conflict-elevated gas prices, electricity is now the cheaper per-mile option in Connecticut. That reversal is likely temporary — at pre-conflict baseline prices, gasoline is cheaper, and New England's grid infrastructure challenges remain unresolved.

In the news · Connecticut

• 
  How Canada tariffs could thwart efforts to lower CT electric rates

  CT Mirror · Feb 3, 2025

  Canadian hydropower supplies a significant share of New England's grid; a 10% tariff on Canadian energy imports threatened to reverse Connecticut's efforts to bring down Eversource and Avangrid rates, which already rank among the nation's highest at roughly 30–35¢/kWh — making gas the cheaper per-mile option for most PHEVs in the state.

• 
  CT forced to 'ration' EV rebates ahead of expiring federal tax credits

  CT Mirror · Jul 25, 2025

  Surge in PHEV/EV purchases before federal tax credits expired exhausted Connecticut's CHEAPR rebate fund, forcing DEEP to cut the standard rebate from $1,500 to $500 — raising the net cost of switching to plug-in vehicles at a time when electricity rates already undercut the economic case for charging over fueling.

• 
  CT electric rate relief to take effect following state borrowing

  CT Mirror · Aug 13, 2025

  Connecticut's legislature authorized $155 million in state borrowing to offset Eversource and United Illuminating supply costs, shaving roughly 1–2¢/kWh off residential bills — a sign of how politically untenable the state's 30¢+/kWh rates had become.

Curated coverage of Connecticut's EV/PHEV cost, policy, and infrastructure story. External links open in a new tab.

Northeast region comparison