Frequently Asked Questions

Unitil provides electric and gas service to specific regions of Massachusetts and New Hampshire, and natural gas to specific regions in Maine. Not sure if you’re in our territory? View our service areas.

Generally, your budget billing monthly payment amount will be reviewed periodically. Adjustments may be needed to prevent you from having a large amount due or credit balance at the end of the program year. If we change your payment amount, we will notify you of the new amount, which will appear on your next bill. Changes to your payment amount are based on several factors such as:

• The price of electricity and/or natural gas changes
• Warmer or colder temperatures mean you will use more or less energy to heat or cool your home
• Your monthly usage has changed compared to the prior usage history that was used for calculating your payment amount

If you or a family member uses electrically operated life support systems, we encourage you to notify us in advance of any outages by submitting our Physician’s Certification Form found here. Once we receive this form, your account will be noted and we will include a notification to you in the event that we anticipate adverse weather or scheduled maintenance which may result in a power outage.

Visit the Unitil Outage Map for up-to-date outage info and estimated restoration times or sign up for Outage Notifications through your MyUnitil account.

Check out our Outages & Emergencies page for information on emergency and storm preparation, storm updates, power restoration, and preparing for extended outages.

We also have dedicated resources and information for municipal contacts in the communities we serve.

You may cancel your budget plan by contacting our Customer Service team at 1-888-301-7700. Upon cancellation from the program, your account will reflect your current charges, in addition to your deferred balance.

Bangor Area Gas Customers: 

Please contact our Bangor office at 1-207-941-9595.

The Budget Billing Program is a free service available to residential customers. You may enroll anytime, provided your account is current with no overdue balance.

You will need to provide us with the following:

• Your name
• The address of the new location
• The gas equipment to be installed with input rating

Natural gas is not available in all locations, although we may serve your community. View our Switch to Gas page to see if gas is available at your address or call us toll-free at 1-888-486-4845 to inquire about availability in your neighborhood.

Although Unitil does not specifically endorse any contractors, we do have a few lists of local plumbing and heating contractors.

You can also check your local yellow pages. Verify that the contractor is licensed and insured before any work is performed.

If you smell, see, or hear a suspected gas leak, evacuate immediately.

Move to a safe environment and THEN call 911.

After that, you can call Unitil at the emergency number for your state:

• Maine gas emergencies: 1-866-900-4460
  • Former Bangor Natural Gas Customers: 1-877-427-7991
• Massachusetts gas emergencies: 1-866-542-3547
• New Hampshire gas emergencies: 1-866-900-4115

DO NOT use a lighter or phone, and DO NOT switch on/off appliances, lights, or even a flashlight in the area where you smell gas. These items can produce sparks that might ignite the gas and cause an explosion.

A gas conversion burner allows you to switch from oil to natural gas by replacing only the oil burner on your current furnace or boiler. We offer rental conversion burners, to eligible customers, through our EasyCare Program — it's the easiest, fastest and most inexpensive way to replace or upgrade your existing oil furnace or boiler. Every rental comes with 24-hour service, seven days a week so you'll always have worry-free peace of mind.

Contact your local residential gas representative at 1-888-486-4845 to schedule an appointment. We’ll come out to examine your heating system and let you know if you're eligible for a conversion burner.