PA electric rates

Less than three months after the highly publicized removal of artificial rate caps in PPL Electric Utilities’ territory, consumers enjoy multiple power supplier options and clean energy is thriving in competitive electricity markets across the state.

Consumers have saved money under the competitive model when compared to the traditional monopoly model,” James Cawley, Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PAPUC) Chairman, testified at a recent State Senate hearing. “It’s been a great success.” More than 550,000 customers have switched power suppliers statewide, reports the PAPUC’s PAPowerSwitch Web site, which provides consumers with advice on how to find the right competitive power supplier.

The amount of customers who have switched within the PPL Electric Utilities’ service territory is “astounding,” said Chairman Cawley. 320,000 residential customers – and 380,000 total customers – are purchasing electricity from competing providers. Fourty-six percent of total electricity demand is being met by competitive suppliers. There are 28 competing suppliers serving customers in PPL Electric Utilities’ service area, including nine suppliers for residential customers.

The good news continues in Pennsylvania as more and more residents experience the benefits of competition. Less than a month after rate caps expired in the PPL Electric Utilities service territory in the northeastern and central part of the state, almost 20 percent of total customers have switched to alternative energy suppliers offering power at up to 10 percent off PPL Electric’s current default rate.

As of this week, 263,000 PPL customers have chosen alternative power suppliers. This number represents 218,000 residential customers and 45,000 commercial and industrial customers, and means 40 percent of the total electric load and 19 percent of the residential load is shopping. Observers expected customers to consider alternatives, but the rate of activity has “been a very dramatic, robust response,” according to Pennsylvania State Consumer Advocate Sonny Popowsky.