Competitive METED Rates Yield Savings Against Default Price

Current METED competitive rates are providing substantial savings opportunities for residential customers looking to lower their electric bill.  The current METED price to compare rate, which is charged to all customers in the area who do not choose a competitive rate plan, has been steady at $0.0684 since December 1, 2018.  The lowest competitive METED rate is yielding savings of just over 10%.

The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission released switching data in March 2019 revealing that just 28.8% of METED residential customers were purchasing their power from a competitive Pennsylvania electricity supplier.  This data concludes that 71.2%, or roughly 359,000 residential customers, have the opportunity to lower their monthly METED electric bills by more than ten percent.  Statewide the switch rate is 30.5%, just slightly higher than the METED service area.  However, the highest switch rate in Pennsylvania is in the PPL service area at a whopping 40%.

The somewhat low switch rate in the region is likely a result of METED having a historically low default rate and the frequent changing of that default rate.  High default rates relative to the competitive prices available in the region have been the catalyst to an abundance of new shoppers in successful electricity choice markets in the United States.  The lack of a good amount of headroom between the two price sets for an extended period of time has limited the incentive for many shoppers to learn about the benefits of Pennsylvania electricity choice.

With current METED savings above 10%, a number of new electricity shoppers are expected to search for savings.  While the METED price to compare does change several times a year, locking in a low fixed competitive electricity rate can provide a customer with both the ability to obtain instant savings and hedge against potential default price increases.  These two benefits present a great opportunity for the 70% plus METED residential customers who are currently not purchasing their power from a competitive Pennsylvania supplier.


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