10/13/2026
New England generates roughly half its electricity from natural gas. But the region has limited pipeline capacity, and there's no new pipeline planned. During the coldest weeks, gas-fired power plants compete directly with home heating for the same constrained supply. Wholesale prices climb. Your bill follows.
This has been the region's structural vulnerability for over a decade, and it isn't resolving. ISO-NE, the grid operator, routinely sees real-time prices exceed $100 per megawatt-hour during polar vortex events. Winter bills in Massachusetts run 40-60% higher than summer bills for exactly this reason.
The compounding factor right now: natural gas prices are projected to average $4.80 per million BTU over the coming winter, up from $4.12 the year before. Higher gas, colder weather, same constrained pipeline — it all points one direction.
If you're on a variable or default supply rate, you are fully exposed to every one of these winter spikes. A fixed-rate contract removes that exposure for the length of the term. The choice is between riding the volatility and stepping off it.