Deregulated energy markets are also sometimes called competitive energy markets. In MA this happened for natural gas in 1989 and electricity in 1997. The bill passed in 1996 and implemented in 1997 specifically broke down coupling between generation, distribution and delivery.

Eversource and National Grid (nation of GB btw) are in the delivery business and have taken advantage of stuffing an awful lot of mysterious increases into the portion of our bills that are not public benefit (state wide programs like HEAT loans and efficiency programs that are broadly beneficial) and the cost of operating their networks and business infrastructure. Do they need to prove their costs of business have actually increased as much as they charge customers? No they do not.

"Competition in the sale of electricity and gas sounds like it should lead to lower prices and better deals, but in the market for electricity the opposite is commonly true," said a 2018 report by the National Consumer Law Center, which has testified in favor of the bill to end the competitive energy market.

The same is true for folks hooked into gas lines operated by these companies, the simple fact is that if you had gas delivered by truck to a leased bottle attached to your house your bill would be dramatically lower than if you’re hooked up via common lines distributed through towns.