Power customers can shop for lower prices
No longer under electric generation rate caps, Allegheny Power and Penn Power customers can join the rest of the state in shopping for lower prices.
These two companies were the last one in the Butler County area to have the rate caps expire on Dec. 31, 2010.
Denise McCracken, a spokeswoman for the state Public Utility Commission, said Friday all electric customers can now shop for better electric generation rates.
She recommends going to the PUC’s rate website, www.PAPowerSwitch.com, to find out what electric generating companies are offering different rates according to Zip code.
Many Allegheny Power and Penn Power customers in Butler County have received information from FirstEnergy about its rates and the ability for customers to change generators. But, McCracken said, there is no deadline for signing up with a new supplier and there are other suppliers than just FirstEnergy.
“There is no deadline and you can shop at any time,” she said. “In some regions, companies have yet to make competitive offers, but there are more and more now that the caps are completely off.”
At the PAPowerSwitch.com site, customers can see what offers there are by typing in their Zip code on the “Shop For your Home” page.
“Customers also can type in their actual usage numbers from a current bill and see what they’d pay through a different company,” McCracken said.
While possibly changing their generating company, they will still receive a bill from their current electric distribution company.
“Distribution companies don’t care where you get your electricity generated as they don’t get any revenue from generation,” McCracken said.
As for other regions in the state that had rate caps expire earlier than Butler County, the PUC saw commercial and industrial clients pick new generating companies first with residential customers following later, McCracken said.
“At this point, about 40 percent of the residential customers across the state have picked their generating company, and as competing offers expand, we’re sure there will be more,” she said.
