Western Pennsylvania residential customers who receive their power from Duquesne Light experienced a slight rate hike in early June. The Duquesne Light residential price to compare went up from $0.0777 to $0.0807, representing a 3.9% increase. Meanwhile, competitive electricity suppliers have kept their price offers stable, resulting in large savings for customers who have decided to start shopping for lower rates. The new price to compare is expected to last through the end of the year making the summer of 2016 an idea time for new customers to shop for attractive electricity prices in Pittsburgh.

Prior to the rate change Duquesne Light reported that 31.9% of their residential customers were purchasing their power supply from a competitive supplier. Due to the Pennsylvania Electricity Competition and Choice Act, Duquesne Light customers have the ability to shop for competitive prices for the generation and transmission component of their electric bill. Duquesne Light charges regulated distribution fees for delivering power to the customer’s home or business. The power generation aspect is open to competition, however those customers who do not find a competitive rate pay the price to compare rate offered by Duquesne Light. Competitive offers are yielding savings as high as 20% versus the price to compare rate.

The JCPL price to compare, or basic generation service rate, was adjusted on June 1, 2016 and will reach customers when they receive their electric bills in July. Basic generation service charges include the generation and transmission portion of the JCPL electric bill, which encompasses the portion of the bill that is open to customer choice meaning that consumers have the ability to shop and purchase a lower price from a licensed New Jersey electricity supplier. Customers who choose not to shop for competitive rates remain on the basic generation service rate. Customers who are active in the New Jersey electricity choice market often refer to this rate as the price to compare, since it can be used as a benchmark to compare competitive offers against.

Every year the price to compare rate is adjusted twice a year on June 1, representing the summer rate period, and October 1 which represents the winter rate period. The prices are determined by a series of auctions that occur over a three year period. For example, the price to compare prices for 2016 were determined through auctions that occurred in 2014, 2015, and earlier in 2016. The most significant aspect of the rates this summer is the big jump in price for customers who used more than 600 KWh a month, which is the case for most properties bigger than a one bedroom apartment. During the months of June through September customers on the JCPL price to compare will pay a rate of $0.094604 for the first 600 KWh. The rate will then jump 9.8% to $0.103862 for every KWh consumed above the 600 mark.

Currently njelectricity.org, a New Jersey energy comparison site, is showing 10 competitive plan offers below the $0.09406 price and 17 total plans below the $0.103862 price. Customers on the JCPL price to compare price can save over 20% on their electric bills this summer by choosing a competitive supplier. Surprisingly as of March 2016 only 20.7% of JCPL customers had switched off of the price to compare rate according to the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities. The recent jump in savings potential caused by lower competitive prices may spark more shopping activity in JCPL this summer.

Below is a list of competitive JCPL offers by electricity suppliers who have been licensed by the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities.