Substantial savings are available for Rhode Island residential electricity customers who receive their electric bill from National Grid and are still on the default price to compare rate.  Rhode Island electricity choice provides consumers the option to either pay for their power supply directly to their utility, or to purchase it from an alternative competitive supplier.  If a competitive Rhode Island electricity supplier is chosen, the rate that the supplier and customer agree to replaces the utility default price.

National Grid, the largest electric utility in Rhode Island, is currently charging $0.08179 for their default price to compare rate.  By taking the time to shop, customers can find alternative Rhode Island electricity rates that are well below the default National Grid price.  The current Rhode Island National Grid default rate will stay in effect through the end of March 2017.  Based on historical rate information, it is likely the default rate will increase in April as the Rhode Island National Grid default price has not been below $0.08 since December 2013.

Shopping for lower Rhode Island electricity rates is an easy way for consumers to lower their electricity bill without having to invest money in new equipment or undergo expensive and time consuming energy efficiency projects.  The new competitive electricity price simply replaces the National Grid default rate, with the difference producing a lower electricity bill.  Rhode Island National Grid continues to control the power lines and wires and deliver power to homes and businesses through the state through regulated distribution charges managed by the state.  While the purchase of power supply has been deregulated and open to customer choice, the delivery of that power remains regulated.  This structuring keeps the power line reliability constant while providing a dynamic market for consumers to shop and locate a rate structure that best fits demands.

Currently several competitive offers exist in Rhode Island that are below the National Grid price to compare default rate.

Jersey Central Power & Light, a First Energy Corporation company, implemented a rate change to their basic generation service (BGS) charge on October 1, 2016 that will stay in effect until the end of May next year. The BGS price is the price for electricity supply charged to all JCPL residential customers who have not switched to a competitive supplier. The rate change will effect smaller homes and apartments the most.

Throughout the summer JCPL residential customers were charged $0.094604 per KWh for the first 600 KWh that they consumed, and then $0.103862 for all KWh above 600. Starting on October 1, 2016 customers on the BGS plan will pay one flat rate of $0.102863 for all electricity consumption. This means that it will be the smaller home customers who see the biggest increase on their electric bills. For customers who use below 600 KWh a month, their JCPL electric bills will rise by 13% if they decide to stay on the BGS service rate plan.

Many competitive rate offers exist that are in the $0.09 and even $0.08 range. The discrepancy between competitive offers and the default BGS rate is providing a incentive for customers to switch to a competitive JCPL electricity supplier. Choosing to purchase power from a competitive supplier results in the new supplier’s rate to replace the JCPL BGS charge, which produces real savings on the electric bill. The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities estimates that 199,269 of JCPL’s 984,646 residential customers have switched to a competitive electricity supplier. The switch numbers have slowly but steadily risen over the last year are expected to continue to rise as more people become aware of electricity choice in the JCPL service area.

On October 1, 2016 the New Jersey Public Service Electric & Gas Company (PSEG) enacted a scheduled change to their basic generation service rate charged to residential customers. The rate change will effect roughly 1.7 million residential electricity customers in the state of New Jersey who are not purchasing their power from an alternative supplier. Basic generation service represents the costs for the power supply portion of the bill, which is also the section of the bill that PSEG customers have the option to shop around and search for a better price.

As of August 2016, the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities reported that 185,973 PSEG residential customers, 10.4% of the residential customer base, had elected to purchase their power from an alternative supplier. For these customers, the rate change that took place on October 1 will not effect their monthly electric bill. Instead these customers will pay whatever rate they purchased from the specific alternative PSEG supplier for whom they entered into a contract with.

The remaining 89.6% of PSEG residential customers who are paying the high basic generation service rate of $0.125982 for their power supply have an opportunity to lower their electricity costs by finding a more competitive offer from an alternative supplier. The new PSEG rates will stay in effect until May 31, 2017. On June 1, 2017 the rates will increase even more to $0.137684 for some consumers. With no rate relief in sight from PSEG, the time to shop for competitive PSEG residential rates is as beneficial for consumers as it ever has been. Competitive rate offers below show the amount of savings versus the current PSEG basic generation service default price.