Maryland is a unique restructured electricity market.  Real options exist for Maryland consumers, and significant savings opportunities are available.  Residential Baltimore Gas & Electric (BGE) customers can reduce their electricity generation bill by 14% by switching to a competitive supplier.  However, only 72,000 out of 5 million people in the state have chosen an alternative supplier.

How has Maryland reached this point in time where so much opportunity exists in a competitive market, yet so few people have participated?

The answer to the question is a combination of bad timing with the market and inpatient government officials.  Maryland, like other states who have deregulated their electricity markets, set capped rates for all of their customers when the restructuring act was passed.  This caused Maryland electric customers to enjoy low rates from 2000-2007 while energy prices were constantly rising.  In 2007, when these capped prices expired, many Maryland residents saw their electric rates shoot up by 50%.  The 50% increase was a result of Maryland Utilities pre-buying their power requirements for default service customers (those customers who did not choose a competitive supplier).  This is where the bad timing came in.  Electricity prices were at an all time high during the 2007-2008 period.  This made it difficult for alternative suppliers to offer competitive rates.

To make things worse, state officials started to call for the state to re-regulate the market stating that deregulation was not working.  Governor O’Malley backed the call for re-regulation which in turn kept electric providers from entering the market.  There is a significant investment required for electric providers to enter a new market or for a new entity to become a licensed retial electric provider.  It doesn’t make sense for a business to enter a trade that is not supported by the local government.

Fast forward to 2010 and Maryland customers are finally starting to see the benefits of electricity deregulation.  The call for re-regulation was shot down, and wholesale electricity rates have come way down from their highs.  In addition, default customers are paying rates that in many cases were established in 2008 during a time of high energy prices.  This is why residents are able to see savings of 14% on their electric bill versus their default price to compare rates.
Current BG&E Competitive Rates (Updated Daily):

The volatility of  Texas electric rates have been extreme enough to make someone in North Texas sea sick.  Over the last 8 months prices have been on a slight, but steady, rise as fixed rates today are 11% higher than they were in June 2009.  That might seem like bad news, however, consider that today’s prices are a whopping 49% lower than the all time high prices that were experienced in the summer of 2008.

Just 20 months ago a small or medium size business would be lucky to find a commercial electric rate for under 11 cents per KWh.  Today, business electricity rates can easily be locked in for under $0.07 for a 12 month period.  Texas residential electric rates can be locked in below $0.10 inlcuding delivery charges.

We’d like to ask our readers, what rate are you paying?

With electricity competition heating up in the PPL territory, many consumers have voiced their confusion over their current PPL bill.  In order for PPL electricity customers (both commercial and residential) to save money through deregulation, they have to understand what the prices they are being offered should be compared against; PPL has labeled this as the “Price to Compare”.

Unfortunately for consumers, PPL does not clearly label on the invoiced bills what exactly the Price to Compare includes.  The price to compare, the PPL rate that you should compare to competitive suppliers, includes the generation charge and the transmission charge labeled on your PPL bill.  If you add these two rates together you will have your price to compare, it’s as simple as that.

There is a misunderstanding in the PPL area that only the generation rate should be compared against alternative electric supplier offers.  It is important to also include the transmission charge so that you can get an accurate apples-to-apples comparison.  Price to compare rates for small and medium businesses are $0.10402 per KWh.  Current competitive electricity rates for these customers range from $0.085 to $0.095 per KWh (kilowatt hour).

Having trouble finding an honest low rate?  Leave a comment or send an email for information.

Electricity customers in New Jersey who are being serviced by the Rockland Electric Company (also known as Orange and Rockland) have seen there basic generation charges increase dramatically in 2010.  These basic generation charges are Rockland Electric Company customer’s price to compare; they can shop the deregulated market for a competitive price that is lower than the price to compare rate that Rockland Electric is offering.

Rockland Electric customers are seeing savings in the competitive market for the first time, so the concept of electricity deregulation is new to most consumers in that area.  The savings for Rockland Electric business customers can be large.  Some businesses in Northern New Jersey have seen their electric price to compare jump above 15 cents per KWh.  Competitive New Jersey electric rates are being offered that are below 10 cents per KWh.  The majority of North Jersey business customers in the Rockland Electric territory are seeing savings between 15 and 30%.

If you are in the Rockland Electric Company service territory and would like additional information on alternative suppliers please email or leave a comment.

Save 18% off of the Rockland default rate of $0.1215 and get a Visa Prepaid gift card.

Options remain available for all Connecticut electricity customers, who are served by CLP and UI, to lower their electricity rates.  A large portion of customers remain on the two utilities generation service charge (GSC) which serves as a default rate for those customers who do not choose a competitive priced supplier.

Residential customers, in particular, are being presented options that will provide a clear and easy way to cut out some of their expenses.  Competitive electric providers are offering rates that are 10-15% less than current GSC default rates.  However, as of November 30, 2009, the state reports that only 12.9% of CLP customers and 18% of UI customers have selected alternative suppliers.

While the alternative providers are present to offer lower electric supply rates, CLP and UI continue to take care of the delivery (lines and wires) of the electricity as well as the billing.  Since the customer continues to receive a bill from the same company at the same time of month, and because the quality of the electricity is the same, the only difference that occurs when a competitive provider is chosen is the lower price.

February 15, 2010

Currently in Connecticut there are ten retail electric providers offering service to residential customers as an alternative to CL&P and UI GSC default rates.  However, of these ten, only four of them (Direct Energy, ConEd Solutions, MX Energy, Dominion) offer fixed rates.  With a fixed rate you know the exact rate you will pay for electricity for a set term (usually 12 months). Shopping for competitive Connecticut electric rates can save both residential and commercial customers money.

The other six providers offer different types of variable rates that can, and often do, change from month to month.  These variable rate providers often advertise a low introductory rate that will be good for the first month of service.  After the initial month, you can expect the rate to increase.

These providers are in a marketing war with each other.  They will show that they are offering savings versus CL&P and UI default rates with their introductory rate.  However there is no guarantee that they will continue to show savings after that first month.  They are hoping that once you switch to their service you will remain their customer for a long period of time no matter how high their rates become.  On the plus side, these variable rate contracts are usually month-to-month, so if you keep an eye on your rate you can leave if it becomes too high.

If you are a homeowner with good credit we recommend looking into one of the providers with fixed rates.  With a fixed rate you will know exactly how much you are savings versus CL&P or UI default rates, and you will have the peace of mind of knowing that the rate will be good for a set period of time.  The electricity market has a wholesale and retail side.  The wholesale market prices are constantly changing and have proven to be very volatile over the years.  Variable pricing can result in huge rate increases over a short period of time.

PPL Commercial Rates

Now that we are past a full month into the new year, PPL commercial customers are getting a first look at their new high PPL default rates which are 18-36% higher than what they were in December 2009.  The reason for this sudden increase is due to the fact that decade long capped rates set by PPL expired on December 31, 2009.

The exact amount of the increase is dependent of the customer classification (rate class) that is assigned to them by PPL.  Factors such as KW demand and annual KWh consumption determing the rate class for commercial clients.  Smaller mom and pop shops will see an increase of around 18% while larger office buildings, movie theatres, factories, ect. will see a larger increase closer to 36%.

With these increases in place, the competitive market for electricity in the PPL territory has heated up.  With more than a dozen licensed electric providers offering electric service in the territory, commercial customers have a variety of options to lower and manage the recent energy price spikes.  Also in the market are numerous electricity brokering and consultant outfits who inform their clients which providers are offering the lowest rates as well as provide information on different types of electricity rate products and contract concessions.

Current Competitive PPL Commercial Rates (updated daily):

Leave a comment or question to learn more:

February 1, 2010

Due to current market conditions businesses and consumers in Delaware can now save money on their high electricity bills.  Delmarva, the incumbent utility in Delaware, is still responsible for the maintenance and management of the lines and wires.  They also provide a default service to those customers who are slow or unwilling to shop the competitive market.  Customers who do shop can save between 10-20% off of the supply portion of their bill, depending on the market and customer size.

As an example, large business customers who are classified as rate class LGS  will pay a default rate of $0.1177 per KWh in 2010.  If they shop the market today they can find fixed rates below $0.10, which result in savings above 15%.