Energy choice participation is picking up in Chicago as consumers are becoming more aware of legislation that allows them to choose a competitive electricity supplier as opposed to their incumbent utility ComEd. The creation of a competitive electricity market in Illinois has created an abundance of electric rate options that customers can now choose between. As suppliers fight to gain market share and brand recognition consumers will find it easier to shop around for the lowest rates with names they trust. Residents who become more educated with electricity choice continue to shop to stay informed about which suppliers are offering the lowest rates.
Chicago residents searching for the lowest electric rate should consider switching to a competitive supplier immediately . Locking in a fixed electric rate may protect the consumer from volatility during harsh winter months. Competitive electric suppliers already have future weather projections built into their rates, marginalizing the effects short term spikes in the energy wholesale futures markets will have on competitive offers. In general, fixed rates offered by Chicago competitive suppliers provide price security for residential customers.
Trying to choose the lowest electricity rate in Chicago is becoming easier as the competition fights to gain more market share. One tool that is becoming increasingly popular to help electric choice shoppers choose and compare rates are online comparison sites. Online comparison sites allow consumers to compare the cheapest electric rates from multiple suppliers based upon the desired term that best suits the customer. The process of switching to a competitive supplier through an online comparison site is minimal in time for the customer. All it takes is a copy of the ComEd bill and a few minutes to compare current competitive offers to the ComEd price to compare.
Saving money on the monthly Eversource electric bill has never been as easy as it now is for New Hampshire citizens thanks to the successful results of energy choice deregulation. Through state legislature, New Hampshire electricity choice laws allow consumers to shop for the power generation supply component of their electric bill from alternative electricity companies. Instead of being forced to purchase power from a regulated utility, New Hampshire Eversource customer can shop for lower electricity prices at desired terms. Customers who are adapting to New Hampshire electricity choice are discovering that they can drastically reduce their Eversource electric bill.
Having competition in business is an important market component that ultimately benefits the consumer as competing firms are forced to trim profits while enhancing the products they sell. Nowhere is that lesson in economics more apparent than in the New Hampshire electricity choice market where customers are seeing savings north of 30% versus the old utility default price. Most consumers are unaware of how the rate they pay for electricity is derived, especially consumers in regulated markets where they become familiar with the mundane process of receiving a disorganized monthly utility bill with a total amount that they must pay or have the lights turned off in their home.
The reality is that electricity is traded on a 24/7 market where utilities and competitive suppliers purchase and trade blocks of power with the goal of selling it to consumers through the monthly electric bill. It is very similar to the business relationship of the bank and homeowner when purchasing a home. The bank buys the home with cash, and then allows the homeowner to make monthly mortgage payments to the bank with a premium in the pricing. In the case of electricity, the utility or competitive supplier is purchasing a block of power through futures contracts for the consumer and then selling it back to the home dweller through the electricity bill with a small retail adder.
Regulated utility customers, or customers who live in states or markets where they do not have the ability to shop for competitive power, pay a rate for the electricity through their local utility. The local utility has a team who purchases the power on the wholesale energy market for their customer base, and then charges a retail adder that is approved by the state utility commission. However, the main component of the charge is going to be determined by the buying strategy of the utility. In a market environment where there is no competition, the utility has no incentive to make sure that they are doing a good job for their customers as they don’t have to worry about losing customers to another company. In contrast a competitive market keeps electricity suppliers on their toes, always looking for ways to cut costs and purchase wholesale electricity at the right time so that they can pass on the low electricity prices to their customers.
In recent months alternative New Hampshire electricity suppliers have been able to offer NH Eversource customers substantial savings on their electric bills by taking advantage of buying opportunities in the wholesale energy markets. In order to market services to customers, alternative New Hampshire electricity suppliers need to be licensed by the New Hampshire Public Utilities Commission. If a New Hampshire Eversource customers chooses to purchase power from a company who is offering a rate that is lower than the utility default rate, then the customer will experience the difference in savings on their monthly Eversource electric bill.
After enjoying record level low electricity prices for the past year and a half, residential customers serviced by Commonwealth Edison (ComEd) are facing a huge electric rate hike that went into effect on June 1, 2014. For some consumers the rate hike is more than 50% as the ComEd default rate has jumped from below 5 cents to, in some cases, just above 8 cents. The price hike will effect all residential ComEd consumers who are on the “Price to Compare” rate structure, which is the price consumers pay for generation and transmission service who have not shopped for an alternative solution.
The large price increase by ComEd has resurrected competitive electricity rate offers that can produce savings. During the last year and a half, Illinois electricity suppliers found it difficult to offer rate plans that could show savings versus the ComEd price to compare. Instead they focused on promotional incentives and longer term price protection contracts in order to gain new customers. With high ComEd rates accompanied by low wholesale prices, ComEd energy choice can once again provide fixed electric rates that are lower than the default prices and thus offer clean cut savings on the ComEd electric bill.
Finding a low electricity rate offered by a electricity supplier who is licensed by the Illinois Commerce Commission can result in lower monthly ComEd electric bills.
Power companies who have taken notice to the success of electric choice in Pennsylvania’s largest cities are now targeting the smaller towns by offering competitive rates and instant bill savings. The Metropolitan Edison Company is the fourth largest electric utility in the state of Pennsylvania delivering power to more than 550,000 power users, all of whom are outside of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. Meted customers have seen a surge in electricity competitive rate offers as power companies continue to enter the area looking for new customers.
The competitive power companies have been successful in their marketing efforts to Meted customers. Over the last year the residential switch percentage, the number of customers who are purchasing their power from a competitive supplier in relation to the total number of Meted residential customers, has surged to 35.9% as reported by the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission. The Meted switch rate is actually higher than the 32% switch rate of Pennsylvania’s largest electric utility, PECO Energy, where power companies have spent more efforts on gaining customers.
Residential customers in the Meted service area are learning that can save money on their monthly Meted electric bills by shopping for competitive low electric rates. Customers who do not shop for competitive rates pay a default electric rate through Meted. Though the Meted default rate recently went down, competitive rates in the area still remain lower. The majority of power companies offering service to Meted customers offer consolidated billing which means that the customer continue to receive the same familiar electric bill from Meted even after they switch.
A list of some of the more competitive rate offerings for Meted residential customers is below. Rate offers are updated daily.
