Behind-the-Meter vs. Front-of-the-Meter: What It Means for Your Home
Updated August 2026 with the latest rates and program details from PURA, Eversource, and state program filings.
Thesis: the reason Eversource's Connecticut supply rate is about 11.6¢/kWh but households pay about 23.5¢ all-in — and Massachusetts supply is 17.32¢ against all-in rates above 30¢ — is everything that happens in front of your meter. The only electricity that escapes those costs is the power you make behind it.
Front-of-the-meter: everything the utility owns
Power plants, transmission lines, substations, the poles on your street — all front-of-the-meter. Every kilowatt-hour traveling through that system carries its costs: generation, delivery, transmission, public policy charges, and profit. That's why the supply rate on your bill is only part of what you actually pay per kilowatt-hour. The rest is the front-of-the-meter system — and when Massachusetts utilities raised supply rates on August 1, 2026, that was just one line item moving.
Behind-the-meter: everything on your side
Rooftop solar, a home battery, your EV charger — these live behind your meter, on your property. Power your panels produce and your home uses in the moment never touches the utility's system, so it never picks up the utility's delivery charges and rate increases. It's the only electricity you'll ever use that the utility can't price.
Why this matters for your bill
When rates rise, they rise on front-of-the-meter power. Behind-the-meter power stays at the rate you locked when you went solar — and Connecticut's RRES program locks that arrangement for a 20-year term. Batteries push it further: Connecticut's Energy Storage Solutions and Massachusetts' ConnectedSolutions programs actually pay homeowners for dispatching stored behind-the-meter power to support the grid at peak. The more of your life you run behind the meter, the less the utility's decisions matter to your budget. That's not just savings — that's independence.