Texas electric companies are constantly competing for the market share of electricity customers throughout the state.  Electricity choice is more apparent in Texas than any other state as dozens of suppliers compete for customers in every city that is part of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas.  The electricity companies are always adjusting their buying strategies so that they can lower their electricity rate offerings to customers.

Electricity customers living in Texas can choose to purchase a variety of electricity rate products.  Gone are the days when someone living in Houston or Dallas moves into an apartment and is given the local utility to call who is the sole company responsible for turning on the power.  Customers can choose fixed rates that are as short as three months to as long as three years.  They can choose an electric company who is offering a low introductory variable rate or take part in reducing their carbon footprint by choosing to purchase green energy in the form of wind power.

In addition to the many electric rate offers available, customers who take the time to shop and compare Texas electric companies can find great bonus promotions including gift cards and cash back awards.  For many Texas consumers, the ability to choose who  supplies your electricity hasn’t fully settled in.  Customers who do not shop for electricity are likely to be paying electricity rates that are anyway from 10 to 100 percent more than they can find in the competitive electric market.

When electric rate contracts expire, the customers go on a month to month rate with the electricity company they chose.  Over time these electric rates tend to creep up.  The electric companies no that there are a large number of power customers who are just going to pay their electric bill and not take the time to shop for lower electric rates.  It is important for customers to stay on top of their electric bills and keep track of when their contracts expire.  Leaving it unattended for too long can result in a much higher electricity bill than is necessary.

If you haven’t compared the Texas electric companies in awhile in your area, take the time and see how much you can save.  Find the electric rate that was charged on your last electric bill and compare it to some of these rates:

Texas Residential Electricity Prices:
All Texas Electricity Prices
	$0.067 /Kwh	Introductory rate with Promos
	$0.099 /Kwh	Low Rate
	$0.085/Kwh	Lowest 6 Month Rate
	$0.0997/Kwh	Wind Power

PSE&G electricity customers in New Jersey paying basic generation service rates, the PSE&G default rate, are paying among the highest electric rates in the country.  The basic generation service rates are supply electricity rates that PSE&G charges customers who have not selected and alternative electric generation supplier.  These default rates are based on a series of auctions that PSEG holds for their customers.  Electricity suppliers compete to provide rates for a percentage of the PSEG default customers.

PSE&G passes the supply rates from the electricity companies who win at the auction directly on to customers.  So even when a customer pays the basic generation service default rate, they are still paying money for their supply service to another electric supplier other than PSE&G.

Lower electric rates can be selected by customers who take the time to shop and find their own electricity supplier.  When the auction for default rates takes place electricity suppliers have to take into account that a certain percentage of customers will leave the basic generation service during the year.  For example, if an electric company wins the right to provide default service for 100,000 customers starting in June, they have to put a premium on the price taking into account that there is a probability that 15% of these customers might sign a contract with an alternative electricity supplier who is offering a lower electric rate.

When electricity suppliers market their service and rates to individual customers, they do not have to include a premium since they are pricing for one entity.  This results in lower rates and savings on the PSE&G electric bill.

Here are some current offers and savings for electricity customers in PSE&G:

PECO energy is the utility company that delivers electricity to Philadelphia and surrounding areas.  PECO is the largest utility in Pennsylvania in terms of the number of customers it serves.

Many PECO energy customers might be unaware of their ability to choose an alternative electric supplier for the generation portion of their electricity bill.  With price caps being lifted earlier this year, the PECO service area is now a fully competitive electricity market.  Customers can lower their electric bill by shopping for an electric company who is offering a lower rate than the PECO default rate.

Below are some PECO offers that are lower than current PECO default rates.  PECO electricity default rates will change every three months.  According to PECO, the PECO residential rates are expected to increase this summer.  Locking in a fixed electricity rate with a competitive electricity company will save you money right away and protect you from future rate increases.

Some of the offers below also include promotional offers such as gift cards and cash back.  Click on the offers for more information.

PECO energy customers might be surprised to learn that even if they choose an alternative electric supplier, they will still be able to pay their PECO bill the same way they have been doing so, including online with e-bill.  This is due to the way electricity choice has been set up in the PECO territory as well as the whole state of Pennsylvania.

Choosing an alternative electricity supplier doesn’t end your tenure as a PECO energy customer.  PECO is a regulated electricity delivery company.  They are in charge of distributing the power in their territory, maintaining the reliability of the lines and wires, and controlling the management of the monthly electric bill.

PECO charges a default rate for electricity generation, also referred to as electricity supply.  When PECO customers use electricity choice to find a lower electric rate, that rate simply takes the place of the PECO default generation rate.  The customer can still pay their electric bill online, as they will still receive their monthly electric bill from PECO energy.

PECO Competitive Rates

In Houston Texas, where the electricity market is deregulated, customers have dozens of choices when it comes to who will provide their service for power.  Residential electricity customers in Houston can choose to pay a low variable rate that gives the flexibility to leave the company at any time, or they can choose a number of fixed rate options with different sets of terms ranging from 3 months to 3 years.  In recent years green power choices such as wind power have become more popular among Houston energy customers.

Choosing a wind power option is not different than choosing any other type of electricity rate product.  All of the electricity that is generated from sources such as wind, coal, and natural gas, go into the same grid.  Choosing wind power for your home means that your retail electric provider of choice will buy the power from the wind power company generating the electricity, and then sell it to you at the retail level.  When you buy wind power you are voting with your dollars to support clean energy.

The electricity rate that an Houston energy customer ends up paying depends on the electricity product that they choose. Here are the some of the best electric offers in Houston updated daily:

Customers of the electricity utility company Duquesne Light can save big money on their electric bill by shopping for lower electricity rates.  Duquesne Light, which serves the Pittsburgh and surrounding areas, raised their price to compare rates in January 2011.  The price to compare rate is the electric default rate that the state of Pennsylvania mandates Duquesne charge their customers who have not chosen a competitive supplier.

With Pennsylvania now a fully deregulated electricity state, Duquesne Light is now just the local electricity delivery company.  Residential electricity customers in the Pittsburgh area can save as much as 19% on their electric bills by signing a fixed electric rate with a competitive supplier.  Customers will still receive their monthly bill from Duquesne Light, the only difference will be that instead of paying the high default rate of 8.89 cents per kilowatt hour, they can pay a rate as low as 7.19 cents.

As of January 2011, 21.3% of Duquesne residential customers have switched electric suppliers.  That number is expected to increase as the saving potential for these customers has recently increased.

Check out current competitive electricity rates in the Duquesne Light area:

Today PSE&G serves as the electricity delivery company for over two million residential and business energy customers living in New Jersey, including major suburbs of New York City and Philadelphia.  PSEG used to be a full functioning regulated electricity company, taking care of all aspects of electricity, generation, transmission, distribution, and customer service.  Now that New Jersey has enacted energy choice, PSE&G is now only in charge of delivering power, transmission and distribution, to their customers.

While New Jersey customers have a choice of who supplies their electricity they do not have a choice of who delivers the power to their homes and businesses.  Many consumers in the PSE&G service territory are reluctant to shop for lower electric rates because they feel loyal to PSE&G.  This is the wrong way to view electricity deregulation.  Even when a customer chooses an alternative electricity company to provide power, that person still remains a customer of PSE&G as PSE&G continues to act as the electric utility company delivery power to the property.

When a PSE&G customer receives their electric bill they will notice that the bill is divided into two sections; delivery and supply.  The delivery charges are those charged by PSEG to deliver power as well as maintain the lines and wires.  The electricity delivery charges are regulated by the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities.  The supply section of the electric bill is the part that customers have a choice and can compare electricity rates among other companies.  PSEG customers who do shop pay a default electric rate that PSEG is tasked with charging.  PSE&G does not receive a profit from these default supply charges as stipulated in the New Jersey Electricity Choice and Competition Act.

In addition to PSEG’s service of delivering power and providing default supply rates, they also continue to provide customers with their monthly electric bill.  Even after a PSEG customer chooses an alternative electricity company to provide their electric supply service, the customer will continue to receive one electric bill from PSE&G, in most cases.  It is possible that the alternative electric supplier will want to send their own invoice in which case you will receive two bill, one from PSE&G and one from the chosen supplier.  However, in most cases the competitive electricity companies choose to have their charges billed as a separate line on the PSE&G bill.

The competitive electricity company’s rate takes the place of the PSEG default supply rate, and if the chosen rate is lower than the default rate the customer saves money on their electric bill.  Here are some competitive electric rates that are currently lower than PSE&G default rates.

Rockland Electric delivers electricity to just under 63,000 residences in northern New Jersey.  Though electricity choice has existed in New Jersey for several years, competitive electricity companies have just recently started offering competitive electricity rates in the Rockland Electric area.

Though, as of December 2010, only 1.8 percent of the residential customers have chosen an alternative electric supplier, Rockland Electric residential customers can save as much as 18% versus the Rockland default rates.  Rockland Electric offers default electricity rates for those customers who do not shop and compare electricity offers.

People have been slow to shop the competitive energy market in the area mostly because they are unaware of their choices.  Of the four incumbent electricity utility companies in New Jersey, Rockland Electric is by far the smallest.  Because of this, the competitive electricity suppliers are focusing more of their marketing efforts on the bigger utility areas of PSEG and JCPL, even though the greatest savings opportunities currently exist for Rockland customers.

It is expected that more and more Rockland Electric customers will shop for lower rates in 2011 as they become more familiar with their electricity choice options.

Rockland Electric Price to Compare – $0.1215
	$0.097 /Kwh	20% Savings

Centerpoint Energy is the electric delivery company in the Houston metro area.  They are responsible for the management and maintenance of the electric lines and wires, and charge fees that are regulated by the state utility commission and passed through the customer’s electric supplier charge.

The electricity market in Houston is deregulated so residential customers have the power to choose who supplies their electricity.  Many electric rate options exist for Houston energy users including fixed rates, variable rates, long term, short term, and green energy options.

The actual reliability of the power is the responsibility of Centerpoint Energy.  The Texas electricity suppliers are retail electric companies who merely buy the power on the wholesale market and sell it to consumers and retail prices.  If one of these companies were to go out of business and default on their energy requirements, the customers serviced by the defaulting supplier would be transferred onto Centerpoint’s provider of last resort (POLR).  In other words, Centerpoint would continue to deliver power to your home, but the rate would change to a default supplier at a regulated rate.  At this point the customer would still have the power to choose and shop again for competitive electricity pricing.

Residential electricity customer in the Houston area should really focus on finding the lowest electricity rate when shopping for competitive electric suppliers.  Promotional offers found at electricity companies like this that offer free movie tickets and even airplane tickets with time can also weigh into the decision.

Here are some current electricity pricing options in Houston:

Residential electricity customers in Philadelphia and surrounding areas in southeast Pennsylvania are finding good savings on their PECO energy bills through electric competition.  Customers in the area seeking to compare electricity prices will find savings versus the PECO price to compare rates of 2011.

Below are two electricity companies offering electricity rates that are lower than the current residential PECO default rate.  While the savings are relevant, they do not even take into account that PECO rates are estimated to increase by another 10-15% this summer according to www.peco.com.  Locking in a fixed rate will protect customers from these increases.

The default prices for PECO electricity will change every three months and are based on a series of auctions.  Some competitive electricity companies are able to offer savings compared to the PECO rates partly because PECO has to include a premium in their pricing when they buy the energy on the wholesale market to offset the uncertainty of how many customers they will have.  Competitive electricity companies do not have to include this premium in their pricing since they are able to purchase power on the wholesale market for the retail customer one at a time.

Compare PECO Rates: