Electricity choice continues to provide lower price options for residential customers who receive their power from BGE. The creation of a competitive electricity market has created an abundance of electric rate options that give consumers an alternative to the BGE default price to compare rate. Electric bills in the BGE service area are increasingly being reduced as a result of Maryland electricity choice laws that allow consumers to shop for competitive power rates.

BGE residential customers who do not shop the electricity choice market for lower rates pay a default rate for their power supply through BGE. The default rate is determined through an auction process where competitive electricity suppliers compete for the ability to service a bundle of the default paying customers. An individual customer can take that default rate, labeled the price to compare, and search for a lower competitive electricity rate. Once selected, the competitive rate replaces the default rate on the monthly electric bill, creating savings if the competitive rate is below the BGE default rate.

BGE electricity choice rates have remained lower than the price to compare for all of 2014. This has resulted in an increase in the participating level in Maryland electricity choice. Those customers who have not taken the time to learn about electricity choice are paying more than they have to on their monthly BGE electric bills.

Residential electricity customers in the Meted service area in Pennsylvania saw their utility price to compare rate increase by twenty-five percent in the summer. This sharp price increase made room for competitive electricity suppliers in the area to offer prices that were significantly lower than the default rate, yielding double digit savings opportunities. As the summer comes to an end, those saving opportunities still exist for Meted consumers who have remained on the high Meted price to compare.

Despite the fact that competitive Pennsylvania electricity suppliers are offering rates with savings of as much as 17% versus the Meted default price, only 35.7% of residential customers in the area have selected a competitive offer. Customers who are skeptical of selecting a competitive electricity rate should know that all competitive rate plans are offered by electricity suppliers who are licensed with the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission. In addition, even after the switch is made, customers will continue to receive their electric bill from Meted. Instead of being charged the current Meted default rate of $0.09725, the competitive rate would be charged instead, allowing the customer to save whatever difference is yielded.

Current competitive offers in Meted from electricity suppliers licensed by the state of Pennsylvania can be found below. All rate plans are updated in real time.