The Day's article that "Electric bills top all but Alaska and Hawaii," (Aug. 18), was somewhat misleading. If you receive your electricity from a municipal or regionally held government utility your bills are likely lower than those from Eversource. In fact, there are 42,000 people served by Groton Utilities who are receiving bills 20 percent lower than Groton customers served by Eversource. The article attempts to explain the high cost but fails to mention that government utilities are eligible for tax exempt or low interest rate capital improvement bonds and pay no federal, state or sales taxes. Contrast that to Eversource, which is an investor owned corporation that pays all these taxes and higher corporate bonding rates. Eversource is allowed to make a profit and return those profits to their shareholders. Also, Eversource has to compete with salaries in the corporate world, which are generally higher than in the municipal sector. 

All of this does not change the fact that electricity is expensive in Connecticut, but there is a sizable difference depending on the type of entity providing the service. Sometimes a generic product coming from a similar supply source can actually be provided at less cost. This is one of those times.

Marshall Chiaraluce

Mystic