What’s in This Guide
Key Takeaways
- The public benefits charge is a non-bypassable line on Connecticut electric bills that funds state-mandated programs and long-term power contracts.
- It went DOWN on May 1, 2026. PURA credited lower public benefits costs, particularly the nuclear contracts with Millstone and Seabrook.
- It does not expire. It is recalculated every year, so the right question is not when it ends but what it does next.
- On a commercial property the lease decides who pays it. Triple net pushes it to the tenant. Gross leaves it with the owner, where it quietly compresses NOI.
Ask a Connecticut property owner about the public benefits charge and you will usually get a version of the same question: when does that thing go away? It is a fair question and it has an uncomfortable answer. It does not go away. It gets recalculated, every single year, and in 2026 it moved in the direction nobody expected.
What the public benefits charge actually is
Start with where it sits on the bill. A Connecticut electric bill splits into four parts: supply, transmission, local delivery, and public benefits. Supply is the only one you can shop. The Office of Consumer Counsel describes local delivery, the cost of building, maintaining, and operating the distribution grid, as carrying no customer choice at all.
That is the first thing worth understanding, because it is where the common misconception starts. Switching to a competitive supplier changes your supply rate. It does not remove the rest.
What it actually pays for
The public benefits section is not one charge. Per the Office of Consumer Counsel, it holds the Nonbypassable Federally Mandated Congestion Charge plus a Combined Public Benefits charge, and that combined charge is itself three separate things:
Inside the Combined Public Benefits charge
- Systems Benefits Charge. Described as the cost of public education, hardship programs, and other societal costs. It funds hardship programs, matching payment programs for arrearages, and low-income discount programs.
- Renewable Energy Investment Charge. Payments to the Renewable Energy Investment Fund, which promotes the growth, development, and sale of renewable energy sources.
- Conservation Adjustment Mechanism. Supports state-mandated energy efficiency programs.
So when an owner asks what they are paying for, the honest answer is: arrearage forgiveness for customers who fell behind, low-income discounts, energy efficiency programs, renewable energy investment, and federally mandated grid reliability costs. Reasonable people disagree about whether all of that belongs on an electric bill. What is not in dispute is that it is there, and that it is not optional.
Separately, when PURA sets these rates each year it works through six components: the Non-Bypassable Federally Mandated Congestion Charge, the Transmission Adjustment Clause, the Systems Benefit Charge, the Competitive Transition Assessment, the Electric System Improvements Tracker, and the Revenue Decoupling Mechanism. Six independently moving parts is why the charge does not behave like a surcharge with an end date, and why it can fall in one year after rising in another.
What changed on May 1, 2026
Rates went down. PURA approved adjustments effective May 1, 2026 through April 30, 2027, and the public benefits charge is the reason.
The published figures, both residential:
The May 2026 decrease
- Eversource: down 4.3 cents per kilowatt-hour, roughly $30 on an average monthly bill
- United Illuminating: down 4.9 cents per kilowatt-hour, an average monthly decrease of about $34
- In effect May 1, 2026 through April 30, 2027
PURA also credited a decrease in what it calls hardship protection costs, which it describes as including the costs of uncollectible debt and arrearage forgiveness programs. Those are the unpaid balances that built up through the shutoff moratorium years, and they are being worked off rather than added to.
Why it does not end
Here is the part that changes how you should think about it.
Most people encountered this charge during the 2024 spike and filed it mentally as a temporary surcharge, the kind of thing that shows up, causes a fight, and eventually expires. That framing is wrong, and it leads owners to wait for relief that is not coming in the form they expect.
The charge is recalculated on an annual cycle. The rates PURA approved run for one year, to April 30, 2027, at which point the components get computed again against whatever the underlying costs are by then. There is no expiration date because there is no single thing to expire. Some years it will rise. In 2026 it fell, by a meaningful amount.
So the useful question is not “when does this end.” It is “what is it doing this year, and who is absorbing it in my building.”
Which side of the lease pays it
This is where a utility story becomes a commercial real estate story, and where most coverage stops just short of the thing that matters to an owner.
The public benefits charge is an operating expense. Who absorbs it is not decided by PURA, by Eversource, or by the market. It is decided by the lease.
How the structure decides it
- Triple net. The tenant pays operating expenses, so a rate increase lands on the tenant and a decrease benefits the tenant. The owner’s rent is unchanged either way.
- Gross. The owner pays the utilities out of the rent collected. A rate increase comes straight off net operating income with no mechanism to pass it through until renewal.
- Modified gross. It depends entirely on what the lease says, which is exactly why the specific wording matters more than the label on the front page.
The practical consequence for a landlord on gross leases is that a year like 2024 hits NOI directly, and a year like 2026 quietly gives some of it back. Neither shows up as a rent change. Both show up in the operating statement, which is what a buyer underwrites from.
For tenants on triple net, this is a CAM reconciliation item. It is worth understanding before the annual true-up arrives rather than after. If you are negotiating now, our guide to triple net leases covers what is actually included, and gross versus net lease structures compares who carries which costs.
The number nobody published
Worth saying plainly, because it affects how much of the above you can act on: PURA’s announcement addresses residential customers. The 4.3 cent and 4.9 cent figures, and the roughly $30 and $34 monthly savings, are residential. The release does not give an equivalent commercial or industrial number.
That is not a criticism of PURA, whose rulings run to considerably more detail than a press release. It is a caution about arithmetic. Commercial and industrial customers sit on different rate classes with different demand charges, so scaling a residential per-kilowatt-hour figure up to a 20,000 square foot building will produce a number that looks authoritative and is not.
If you want the real figure for a specific property, it is on the bill, and it is worth pulling before you underwrite anything.
What to actually do about it
Pull an actual bill
Find the public benefits line on a real statement for the property. This is the only number that describes your building rather than an average.
Check what the lease says
Not the label on the cover. The operating expense clause, and whether utilities are named specifically or folded into a general category.
Put it in the underwriting, on both sides
If you are buying a gross-leased building, the owner is carrying this and the exposure transfers to you. If you are buying triple net, confirm the reconciliation has actually been collected rather than deferred.
Expect it to move again
Rates reset for the year beginning May 1, 2027. A budget built on the 2026 number is a budget with an assumption in it, so label it as one.
Where to get the real answer
Two state resources are more useful than most of what is written about this, and neither is trying to sell you anything:
Useful, and free
- The Office of Consumer Counsel breakdown of an electric bill, which explains each section in plain language.
- The Office of Consumer Counsel itself, the state’s ratepayer advocate, reachable at 860-827-2900 or occ.info@ct.gov, Monday to Friday.
- PURA, where the rate rulings themselves are published in considerably more detail than the press summaries.
Not Sure Who Is Carrying This Cost in Your Building?
The lease decides who absorbs the public benefits charge, and the answer is not always the one the owner assumes. Commercial Connection reads lease structures across Connecticut every week. Send the property and we will tell you where this lands.
Ask About Your Lease
Or call John Famiglietti directly: 203-596-7777
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the Connecticut public benefits charge ever go away?
No. It is not a temporary surcharge with an expiration date, it is a bucket of separately calculated costs that is recalculated on an annual cycle. The rates PURA approved in April 2026 run from May 1, 2026 through April 30, 2027, and then the components are computed again. Some years it rises and some years it falls.
Did the public benefits charge go up or down in 2026?
Down. PURA approved decreases effective May 1, 2026, and identified lower public benefits charges as the driver, particularly those tied to the nuclear energy contracts with Millstone and Seabrook. Eversource residential rates fell 4.3 cents per kilowatt-hour, about $30 on an average monthly bill, and United Illuminating fell 4.9 cents, about $34.
Can I avoid the public benefits charge by switching electric suppliers?
No. It is a non-bypassable charge, which means it applies whether you take supply from the utility or from a third-party supplier. Switching suppliers can change your supply rate. It does not remove this line.
Who pays the public benefits charge in a commercial lease, the landlord or the tenant?
The lease decides. Under a triple net lease the tenant carries operating expenses, so the charge lands on the tenant. Under a gross lease the owner pays utilities from the rent collected, so an increase comes directly off net operating income. Modified gross depends on the specific wording, which is why the operating expense clause matters more than the label.
How much is the public benefits charge for a commercial property?
There is no published statewide figure for commercial or industrial customers. PURA’s May 2026 announcement gives residential numbers only. Commercial and industrial accounts sit on different rate classes with different demand charges, so scaling the residential per-kilowatt-hour figure to a commercial building produces a misleading number. The reliable answer is on an actual bill for the specific property.
Sources and Further Reading
Primary sources
This article provides general information, not legal, accounting, tax, lending, or valuation advice. Lease terms, requirements, and market conditions vary by property, municipality, and transaction, and may change. Verify material information with qualified professionals before relying on it.
