Philadelphia electricity users are customers of PECO energy, who provides electric supply service as well as electric delivery service for businesses and households in the city.  While PECO energy will remain the electric delivery company for these electric users, many customers will change their electric supply company in 2011 when PECO’s capped rates expire.

Starting January 1, 2011, commercial and industrial energy users in Philadelphia who do not choose an alternative energy company to supply their electricity needs will be on the PECO default electric rates.  Most businesses in Philadelphia will find in advantageous to shop and compare Pennsylvania electricity companies.

Large Commercial and Industrial electricity users in the PECO territory (whose KW demand is greater than 500KW) will pay a default price to compare rate of $0.0897 per kilowatt hour, if they elected to go with the fixed default electric rate.  If they did not elect for the fixed default rate, they will be forced to ride the volatile hourly ahead market rates.  Large electricity users in Philadelphia have bee offered fixed electric rates of $0.072 in recent weeks, a price 19.8 percent less than the PECO price to compare default rate.

Small and medium commercial customers in PECO will not know their exact price to compare rate until later in the year.  It is estimated it will be between $0.09 and $0.095 per KWh in 2011.  The number of electricity companies offering competitive rates to these customers will increase as 2011 approaches.  Savings are expected to be between 8-15% off of the price to compare default rates.

Update:  We have received numerous reports from our partners at Electric Rate that businesses are seeing significant savings with competitive peco commercial rates for contracts starting in 2011.

If you are looking for competitive electric rates for your home, we would recommend the below:

 

The heat wave that was present in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic last week caused a spike in electricity demand which in return increased hourly prices in the electric wholesale market.  Weather is the key variable for electricity demand.  Warmer than average weather causes an increase in demand as people turn their air conditioning down, forcing reliability concerns as wires and transformers overheat.

Customers on variable rates in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic might see an increase on their next bill.  Larger commercial customers who are on an electricity contract tied directly to the PJM wholesale market will almost certainly see a significant increase on their rate from the last few months.  Residential and small commercial electric customers on a variable rate will see an increase depending on how much of the daily market their provider depends on.  Those providers who rely on the daily market for their entire customer base will be in a lot of trouble as they will be forced to pass the electric rate spikes right onto their customers.

There are currently savings for Connecticut electricity customers who are serviced by the utility the United Illuminating Company (UI).  Both residential and business customers are finding savings by shopping the competitive electric market.

Residential electric customers in the UI service area are paying a default rate of 11.568 cents per kilowatt hour.  The lowest electric rate in the UI utility area that we found was for 9.6 cents per kilowatt hour, a 12% savings.  Similarly, a 9.6 cents electric rate was found for small business customers in Connecticut compared to the UI default rate of 11.5918,  1 7.3 percent savings.

Electric savings are real in Connecticut.  If you have not looked into competitive power prices we strongly encourage you to do so.  There is no reason to pay 12-20% more a month on your electric bills when you can easily save money by signing an electric contract with a reputable electric supplier. 

For a list of electric suppliers in your area send us an email with your state and local utility company. 

We are also seing electric rate savings in the following utility service areas:  PSEG, ACE, JCPL, CPL, PPL, BGE, Delmarva, all of Texas

The National Weather Service’s Climate Prediction Center is expecting a rough Hurricane season in 2010 that may have a negative effect on retail electricity prices.  Electric rates in the majority of competitive electric markets have a direct correlation with natural gas prices.  Bad hurricane seasons result in a decline in natural gas production that eventually pushes electric prices up for consumers.

The Climate Prediction Center estimates an 85% chance for an above normal hurricane season with only a 10% of a near normal season, and a 5% of a below normal season.  They are estimating 166 (Bcf) of natural gas shut in production which may cause electric prices to increase across the country.

The hurricane season is between June 1 and November 30.  Most utilities have default rate structures that cause their default customers to pay higher rates in the summer as oppposed to the rest of the year.  With those two factors added to the fact that at the moment fixed electric rate contracts have been low (10-30% lower than default rates depending on your location and energy consumption patterns), now is an idea time to look into locking in a low fixed electric rate. 

If you are currently on a floating rate you would also want to think about locking into a fixed rate as the floating rate will be affected by a bad hurricane season.  Customers in Pennsylvania, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, and Texas should get off of default rates on lock into a competitive fixed electric rate.

Competitive electric rates in Connecticut remain well below the price to compare default rates of CLP.  Despite this, only 27% of customers (residential, commercial, and Industrial) have chosen an alternative supplier.

Small and medium commercial customers in the CLP territory on default service (i.e. have not chosen a competitive supplier) are paying a rate of $0.11723 per KWh.  By contracting out with another electric provider, these customers can lock in rates below $0.10 per KWh and see their bills reduced by over 15%.

Over two dozen electric providers are active in Connecticut for residential and business electric consumers.   We recommend signing an agreement that will give you a fixed rate as opposed to a variable rate that can change from month to month.  The fixed electric rate will give you an apples to apples comparison against the CLP default rate and will guarantee that you save money as long as the rate is below the 0.117233 default rate.

Ask us for a comparison chart for your specific home or building.  Power prices are low.

Southern New Jersey commercial and industrial customers can now see significant savings on their electric bills if they choose to shop the competitive market for an alternative supplier.  Savings as much as 22% off of the basic generation service default rates have been achieved for many businesses.

Many customers on the MGS and AGS rate classes continue to pay the ACE default rates that are over 12 cents per KWh.  Current fixed rates can be locked in for 12 month terms as low as 10 cents per KWh.  While many businesses are starting to become wise to deregulation, the majority of ACE customers are still unaware or confused about the savings available.  We encourage all businesses in the ACE utility service area to shop for a competitive supply contract.

Update:  12/23/2010

Atlantic City Electric residential electricity customers can save 22% off of their default rate with a variable rate and $50 Cash back bonus by going here

Fixed electric rates with savings between 15-22% (plus up to $75 Visa Prepaid Card) can be found here