Why New England Pays More for Natural Gas
EIA annual prices through 2025 · Updated October 21, 2026
In 2025, Massachusetts households paid $25.06 per thousand cubic feet of natural gas, 63% more than the U.S. average of $15.34, per EIA. EIA's data split that premium in two. $3.29 of the $9.72 gap (34%) is the citygate price: what the local utility pays for gas delivered into its system, including interstate pipeline transportation into a region whose pipelines run full in cold weather. The other $6.43 is in the spread between the residential and citygate prices, which covers what the utility adds on top of the gas it buys: its own pipes and operations, customer charges and state-approved surcharges, along with timing differences in passing gas costs through to bills. EIA's data do not separate those pieces.
Six states, two parts of the price
Average 2024 prices per thousand cubic feet (Mcf), the latest year EIA has published for all six New England states. The spread is the residential price minus the citygate price; it is arithmetic on two separately weighted EIA averages, not a measured delivery charge.
| State | Residential price | vs U.S. | Citygate (wholesale) | Residential–citygate spread |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Connecticut | $16.83 | +16% | $5.23 | $11.60 |
| Maine | $18.95 | +31% | $5.86 | $13.09 |
| Massachusetts | $21.90 | +51% | $7.43 | $14.47 |
| New Hampshire | $18.74 | +29% | $4.89 | $13.85 |
| Rhode Island | $21.66 | +49% | $7.87 | $13.79 |
| Vermont | $17.34 | +20% | $4.56 | $12.78 |
| New York | $16.58 | +14% | $4.16 | $12.42 |
| Pennsylvania | $13.62 | -6% | $4.61 | $9.01 |
| United States | $14.50 | – | $4.25 | $10.25 |
New York and Pennsylvania, a major gas-producing state, are shown for comparison. EIA annual averages are weighted by volume.
The wholesale part: pipelines full in winter
Massachusetts utilities have paid more than the U.S. average for delivered gas in every year since 2015, per EIA's annual citygate prices:
| Year | Massachusetts | U.S. | Premium |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | $5.72 | $4.26 | $1.46 (+34%) |
| 2016 | $4.49 | $3.71 | $0.78 (+21%) |
| 2017 | $5.28 | $4.16 | $1.12 (+27%) |
| 2018 | $6.37 | $4.23 | $2.14 (+51%) |
| 2019 | $5.53 | $3.81 | $1.72 (+45%) |
| 2020 | $5.39 | $3.43 | $1.96 (+57%) |
| 2021 | $6.65 | $6.02 | $0.63 (+10%) |
| 2022 | $9.05 | $6.87 | $2.18 (+32%) |
| 2023 | $7.40 | $5.56 | $1.84 (+33%) |
| 2024 | $7.43 | $4.25 | $3.18 (+75%) |
| 2025 | $8.14 | $4.85 | $3.29 (+68%) |
The sharpest part of the problem is in the spot market on the coldest days:
- The pipes run full. ISO New England's market monitor reported that the region's gas pipelines "were significantly constrained throughout Winter 2026." It estimates the pipelines can deliver at most about 4 million MMBtu a day into New England before imported LNG is needed. New England gas averaged $17.79 per MMBtu from December 2025 through February 2026, 31% more than the winter before, and the Algonquin hub hit a record of about $122 on January 27, 2026, when the national benchmark at Henry Hub peaked near $30. (ISO-NE Winter 2026 Quarterly Markets Report, July 9, 2026)
- The premium fades in summer. From April through July 2026, Algonquin gas traded an average of 43 cents per MMBtu below Henry Hub. (EIA, Today in Energy, September 9, 2026)
- Homes and power plants want the same gas. Natural gas supplied 51% of New England's net energy for load in 2025, by ISO New England's preliminary count. ISO New England notes the pipeline system "is contracted primarily to serve home and business heating needs first," and during the January 23 to February 10, 2026 cold snap "many generators turned to oil." (ISO Newswire, February 12, 2026; ISO Newswire, March 5, 2026)
LNG fills the gap, from abroad
- Imported liquefied natural gas reaches the region through Everett in Massachusetts, Saint John in New Brunswick and the offshore Northeast Gateway buoy. LNG sendout into New England was 45.9 million MMBtu in Winter 2026, double the 22.4 million of the winter before. (ISO-NE, July 9, 2026)
- Massachusetts regulators approved National Grid, Eversource and Unitil supply contracts that keep the Everett terminal supplied through May 2030. (EIA, Today in Energy, June 24, 2024)
- Domestic LNG cannot simply sail up from the Gulf Coast on a foreign tanker. The Jones Act requires ships moving cargo between U.S. ports to be U.S.-built, U.S.-flagged and U.S.-crewed. The Congressional Research Service reported in 2018 that there were no Jones Act-qualified LNG tankers; its 2026 report notes one qualifying vessel, which serves Puerto Rico. A temporary Jones Act waiver issued in March 2026 has been extended through November 2026, per CRS. (CRS IF10878, 2018; CRS R49489, 2026)
New pipeline capacity
The Constitution Pipeline, about 125 miles from Pennsylvania to Wright, New York, where it would meet the Tennessee Gas Pipeline, was canceled in 2020 and asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in December 2025 to reissue its certificate. FERC's June 2026 schedule set November 19, 2026 as the deadline for other federal agencies' and state agencies' authorizations for the project. (FERC notice of schedule, June 24, 2026) Williams' Northeast Supply Enhancement project, under construction since April 2026, serves New York City and Long Island, not New England. (Williams, April 14, 2026)
The spread: what local utilities add
The residential–citygate spread is the larger part of the Massachusetts premium. It includes the local utility's pipes, meters and operations, its allowed return and charges that state regulators approve, along with timing differences in passing gas costs through. In Massachusetts, regulators' and officials' records describe three of those charges:
- Pipe replacement. The Gas System Enhancement Program lets utilities recover the cost of replacing leak-prone pipe through a surcharge. The Attorney General says utilities have spent $6.2 billion on it since 2014 and that it makes up 8% to 11% of gas customers' monthly bills; those are her office's figures. Regulators lowered the program's revenue cap on April 30, 2025. (Massachusetts Attorney General, May 1, 2025)
- Energy efficiency. The Department of Public Utilities cut the 2025 to 2027 Mass Save plan by $500 million, including a 25% cut to residential gas budgets, and ordered the efficiency charge shown as its own line on gas bills. (Massachusetts DPU, February 28, 2025)
- Rate cases. Boston Gas (National Grid) asked in January 2026 for about $342 million, of which about $198 million would move existing pipe-replacement investment into base rates, a net increase of about $144 million. As filed, a typical residential heating bill would rise $23.66 a month (8.4%); the new rates are suspended until December 1, 2026 while regulators review the request. These are the utility's requested figures, not an approved increase. (DPU notice, D.P.U. 26-50, January 2026)
Regulators have also limited future gas-system spending: the DPU's December 2023 order in D.P.U. 20-80 bars cost recovery for new gas infrastructure unless the utility shows it considered non-gas alternatives, and for costs of promoting gas expansion. (Massachusetts DPU, December 6, 2023) In Connecticut, regulators allowed about $87 million of Yankee Gas's roughly $193 million rate request in March 2026. (Connecticut PURA, March 11, 2026)
How New England heats
Natural gas is not New England's only heating fuel, or even the most common one in its northern states. Share of homes by the fuel used most to heat them, 2024:
| State | Natural gas | Heating oil | Electricity | Propane | Wood |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Connecticut | 36% | 35% | 20% | 6% | 2% |
| Maine | 8% | 50% | 14% | 16% | 10% |
| Massachusetts | 52% | 20% | 20% | 4% | 1% |
| New Hampshire | 22% | 37% | 12% | 20% | 5% |
| Rhode Island | 53% | 25% | 14% | 5% | 1% |
| Vermont | 20% | 36% | 12% | 20% | 11% |
| United States | 47% | 4% | 42% | 5% | 1% |
U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2024 1-year estimates, table B25040. Heating-oil homes pay a different price, set weekly; see why heating bills are high this winter and what each fuel costs per unit of heat.
Frequently asked questions
Why is natural gas so expensive in Massachusetts?
In 2025, Massachusetts households paid $25.06 per thousand cubic feet, 63% above the U.S. average of $15.34, per EIA. About 34% of that gap shows up in the citygate price, what utilities pay for gas delivered into their systems. The rest is the spread between the residential and citygate prices, which covers the utility's own pipes, operations and approved charges along with timing differences in passing gas costs through; EIA's data do not separate those pieces.
Does New England get natural gas from LNG?
Yes, especially in winter. Imported liquefied natural gas arrives at Everett in Massachusetts, Saint John in New Brunswick and the offshore Northeast Gateway buoy, and ISO New England counts on it when pipelines are full. Massachusetts regulators approved utility contracts that keep Everett supplied through May 2030.
Why can't New England just ship gas from Texas or Louisiana by tanker?
Ships carrying cargo between U.S. ports must be U.S.-built, U.S.-flagged and U.S.-crewed under the Jones Act. The Congressional Research Service reported in 2018 that no Jones Act-qualified LNG tanker existed; its 2026 report notes one, which serves Puerto Rico. A temporary Jones Act waiver issued in March 2026 has been extended through November 2026, per CRS. New England's LNG imports have come from abroad.
Is heating oil common in New England?
More than anywhere else in the country. In 2024, 50% of Maine homes heated mainly with fuel oil, against 3.5% nationally, per the Census Bureau's American Community Survey.
Sources: EIA natural gas prices (annual and monthly residential and citygate prices by state); ISO New England market and newswire reports; EIA Today in Energy; Congressional Research Service; FERC; the Massachusetts Attorney General and Department of Public Utilities; Connecticut PURA; U.S. Census Bureau ACS. Agency and official cost figures are quoted as their claims. See methodology.