Electric choice options are heating up in some markets as we begin to enter the high energy summer season.  Customers who use websites to perform electric price comparisons will give themselves access to the most options and highest electric rate savings.

In Philadelphia, electricity customers of PECO energy are experiencing electric choice for the first time and a surprising number of residential and business customers are power shopping for lower energy rates.  PECO energy default rates are going to rise in the summer which has prompted people to explore electric rate options quicker than some had expected.  Because PECO default rates change on a quarterly  basis initial savings have not been huge, but people are starting to see that locking in a low electric rate can be beneficial as it protects you from future increases.  The other side of that argument is that default rates can go down causing you to be stuck paying a higher electric rate with another electric supplier.  While this a possibility, historic energy prices have shown that rates tend to go up in the summer.  Unfortunately, it will probably take a large energy spike for some people to start looking into their electricity choice options

In Texas, which has enjoyed a competitive electricity market since 2002, thousands of customers who had not previously power shopped saw their electric rates triple in the summer of 2008 due to rising natural gas prices.  Electric customers who had previously locked in low rates were not effected by the increases.  Today the majority of Texas electricity customers are in some type of electric supply contract.

New Jersey electricity customers are also getting low electric rate offers that can protect them from summer rate increases.  Performing an energy comparison of all the offers will allow electricity customers to get the lowest offers with the best promotional offers.  Promotional offers as high as a $75 gift card are available in New Jersey.

Small businesses serviced by the utility PPL in central Pennsylvania will see their electric rates increase by 33% on June 1, 2011.  The current default electric rate of 9.766 will increase to 13.028.

Business customers who have participated in the PA electric choice program will not be effected by the electric rate increase.  The higher price is for the price to compare, or the default electric rate given to consumers who have not yet chosen a competitive electric supplier.  Cheap business electric rates are available for PPL customers who have not yet shopped for competitive electricity rates.

PPL Competitive Commercial Electricity Rates

The higher energy prices in the summer are expected to increase electricity shopping in the PPL region.  As of April 1, 56% of small businesses serviced by PPL had not switched suppliers and instead remained on the PPL price to compare electric default rate.  With current saving of 10% and more in the competitive electric market, the increased default rate will present and even bigger energy savings opportunity for businesses who won’t be able to afford to allocate more money on their electric bills.

Electric choice is still a new concept to many consumers.  Many business owners do not fully understand the benefits of choice and would rather stay with PPL, a company who they are familiar with.  The important fact that these commercial energy customers are missing is that PPL, as the local utility, continues to deliver the power to their customers regardless of the electric supplier chosen.  This distinction between electricity supplier and electricity utility (delivery company) has caused confusion to many customers in energy deregulated markets.

Delaware has a deregulated electricity market.  What does this mean?  It means that the local incumbent utility Delmarva, which was once a regulated monopoly controlling all aspects of electricity service – generation, transmission, distribution – is now only in charge of distribution (they are just an electricity delivery company).  The state mandates that they offer all of their customers a generation default rate for those customers who do not choose an alternative supplier.

Even though Delmarva offers a default generation rate, they do not profit off of these charges.  Their only profit is derived from the delivery charges that are still regulated by the state.  Because of this fact, Delmarva not only does not care if their customers choose a competitive electric supplier, but actually support it.  They want all of their customer to purchase their generation electric service from alternative suppliers so that they can focus their attention on the management and reliability of the electric lines and wires in the state.

Customers looking to shop for competitive electric rates can use the Delmarva default rates (Price to Compare) to determine if the offers they receive are worth signing a contract.  Current competitive electricity rates are showing good savings (8-20%) versus the default rates over the last several years.

Delmarva default rates change about every 4 months.  It is important for Delmarva customers to realize that signing a fixed electricity  contract is not only about saving money off of the current default rate, but also about price protection into the future.  It is possible that the future default rates can become lower than the fixed rate that you signed.  However it is possible, and more likely, that they can drastically increase.  Fixed rate contracts are designed to offer customers with budget certainty giving them electric rate protection.

PSE&G electricity customers looking to save money on their electric bills can do so by shopping for competitive rates.  Paying the PSE&G bill is becoming more difficult for many PSEG customers as energy costs have risen in 2011.  Further increases are expected to occur in the summer, starting on June 1.

Electric choice in New Jersey is bringing savings opportunities to PSEG electricity customers.  The PSE&G electric bill is divided into two sections.  The first section, the delivery section, includes regulated rates that PSEG charges their customers for power delivery.  These charges remain the same no matter which electricity supplier customers choose.  The second part is the Supply section, which makes up the majority of the electric bill.

The supply part of the PSEG electric bill includes all of the electric generation charges which have been deregulated, and therefor customers have a choice of which electricity company they want to use.  When PSEG customers sign an electricity contract with an alternative electricity company, the rate they sign for will replace all of the charges in the supply section of the PSE&G bill.

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