Philadelphia Electric Rates Rising
Philadelphia electric rates will be increasing for all energy users this summer who are still on the PECO energy default electric rate, also known as the PECO price to compare rate. The rate increases will mark the first time PECO energy customers will see a significant increase in their electric bills since rate caps expired at the beginning of 2011.
Residential electricity customers in Philadelphia, who are serviced by PECO, will see a slight increase in June followed by a larger rate increase in July that will last through September. Rates for October and beyond have not been announced yet. A customer using 1,000 KWh a month will see about a 5% increase in June. The July increase will be around 11.3% or $11.30 per month for customers of that size. Larger households and customers who use more than 1,000 KWh a month will see an even bigger increase since the price to compare rates are based on the amount of electricity consumed. In addition, when you add the fact that summer electricity usage is usually higher for most people, many people will see their electric bill dollar amount increase by over 35% in July and August.
PECO Residential Rates in May 2011: 9.99 Cents per kWh
PECO Residential Rates in July 2011: 10.40 Cents (per first 500 KWh); 11.66 Cents (per KWh over 500)
Compare competitive PECO residential rates:
Small business customers in Philadelphia will see their electric bills increase by about 9% on July 1. Medium size businesses will see an even large increase as their electric rates will increase by 11.2% from 9.30 cents to 10.47 cents. So far electric choice has been successful as 37% of commercial customers in the PECO territory have already shopped and selected electricity supply rates from alternative suppliers. The summer rate increase is expected to spur even more electricity shopping in Philadelphia and the surrounding area which is serviced by PECO energy.
The Electric Choice Bill in Pennsylvania made it so that PECO continues to service all of their customers as the local utility (energy delivery) company. This means that even after customers choose a lower electric rate, they still receive their electric bill and maintenance service from PECO energy.
The default price to compare rates is passed through to consumers from electricity companies who have participated in an auction process for the rights to serve a bundle of default customers. Many consumers have decided to hold off on shopping for electric rates because of their loyalty to PECO. The truth is that even if they haven’t selected a competitive rate, they are already buying their power from another company. The best thing for PECO energy customers to do is to compare prices and get the lowest rate that they can find.
PECO small commercial rate in June 2011: 9.43 Cents per kWh
PECO small commercial rate in July 2011: 10.32 Cents per kWh
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