Energy choice has expanded in Maryland, resulting in a growth in licensed electricity suppliers offering service to customers. With the increased competition among electricity suppliers, many of these companies are starting to solicit customers in some of Maryland’s smaller markets such as Delmarva Power & Light. Until recently the majority of these electricity suppliers would only focus their attention on BG&E, Maryland’s largest electric utility market. While relatively small at about one-sixth the size of BG&E, Delmarva Power & Light has grabbed the attention of energy marketing executives as they have come to realize that they can offer consumers in the area significant savings versus the utility standard offer service.

Delmarva Power & Light delivers electricity to nearly 175,000 residential customers and another 32,000 businesses of all sizes. As of December of 2014, only 16.2% of residential customers and 31.6% of small business customers were buying their power form a competitive supplier. Delmarva customers who do not choose a competitive energy supplier continue to purchase their power supply from the utility’s standard offer service which is a default rate structure. The standard offer service price is produced through an auction process where Maryland electricity suppliers bid for the right to supply power to a portion of the default customer pool. The outcome of these auctions is largely based on the condition of the wholesale energy markets during the time of the auctions. Due to high volatility in these markets over the last year, the current Delmarva Power & Light standard offer service experienced a steep rise in early June, at a time when wholesale energy prices have fallen over the last several months. The difference in the two price sets have allowed competitive Maryland electricity suppliers to offer residential customers rates that are lower than the Delmarva standard offer service.

The primary reason most people begin their research into competitive power prices is to save money. Locking in a competitive electricity rate that is lower than the current Delmarva standard offer service rate you will guarantee savings on the supply portion of the Delmarva Power & Light electric bill. With current competitive electricity rates yielding as much as 11% versus the standard offer service, the incentive to switch now exists for consumers, and as a result the number of customers buying their power from a competitive supplier is expected to increase significantly in the DP&L area. Find a list of Delmarva Power & Light competitive rates below from electricity suppliers licensed by the state of Maryland. All rates are updated in real time.

Electricity choice in New York allows energy users to shop for competitive electricity and natural gas rates among a variety of companies offering innovating rate product options. Prior to the electricity market deregulating, residential customers were forced to accept the rate structure offered by their local utility company. With New York electricity choice these same customers can elect how they purchase their power through different term options and ways the power is generated. For example, New York electricity consumers who think energy prices will be rising might decide to lock in a fixed electric rate for 36 months. If they think prices will go down after the current season they might decide to lock in a six month fixed rate so that they are not bound to a contract for too long.

Customers of NYSEG, the third largest electric utility company in the state, pay an electricity supply rate through NYSEG that is variable. The variable rate changes monthly in response to the wholesale electricity market. Electricity prices like this can be very volatile as they are somewhat tied to other global energy markets such as natural gas and coal. World events and abnormal weather patterns can have huge effects on energy prices. It would not be uncommon for a variable rate structure to rise by 20% or more in one month.

However with choice, NYSEG electricity customers can mitigate the volatility by locking in low fixed electric rates through competitive energy companies called Electricity Service Companies (ESCOs). When a NYSEG customer chooses an ESCO to supply their power, the customer continues to be charged for delivery service by NYSEG. Since the NYSEG supply rate changes on a monthly basis, competitive ESCOs are usually unable to guarantee savings to customers, however by offering a fixed rate they are able to offer price stability for consumers who may not be able to afford a large rise in energy prices resulting in a higher than expected NYSEG electric bill.

Choosing a competitive electricity company that offers a low fixed electric rate has been the strategy for about 25% of NYSEG electricity customers.

Performing an energy price comparison among different energy companies and their offers is not always as simple as it may seem.  If you are shopping for competitive energy prices you may not always get apples to apples rate comparisons, especially if you are doing electric rate comparisons for a business.

Increasingly competitive energy suppliers are finding creative ways to structure their rate offers which makes customers appear to be signing contracts for unrealistic low rates, when in truth the contract has many additional charges that show up on the electric bill.

In order to protect customers, New Jersey and Pennsylvania post their “Price to Compare” rates which are the default rates offered by the utilities that competitive suppliers are supposed to offer their rates against.  Most people understand that with electric choice, the bill is now divided into two sections:  the competitive supply section, and the regulated delivery section.  The “Price to Compare” rate that utility companies (PP&L, PECO, PSE&G, JCP&L) publish are the entire supply component of the bill.

The supply rate for energy is broken down into more smaller components.  Some of these charges, such as transmission and capacity, will often be displayed on the bill.  Other components, such as line losses and congestion fees, are charges that are not stated on the bill but are blended into the price to compare rate.  However, competitive suppliers will take out these charges and present their rate to a customer that only contains the energy commodity.  The remaining charges will show up when the customer receives the bill.

This practice makes offers seem significantly less than the utility price to compare.  Unfortunately, often when the bill shows up those extra charges push the rate well above the default price to compare.

It is important to understand that in most energy choice markets, business customers can save money on their bills through shopping and comparing offers.  However due diligence needs to be done and the contracts read.  If your staff is unable to do this themselves they should consider working with an energy consulting firm or use a electricity comparison site that presents all offers equally against each other and against the utility’s current price to compare rate.

Here is some information on specific price to compare rates:

PPL:  The price to compare includes the energy rate and transmission rate that are posted on the PPL website.  The rates also include a GRT tax that is 5.9%.  Current PPL commercial rates increased by 33% on June 1.

PECO:  The price to compare includes the energy rate and transmission rate that are posted on the PPL website.  The rates also include a GRT tax that is 6.06%.  PECO commercial rates will increase by 9-11% on July 1.  PECO residential rates will increase by an average of 10% on July 1.

PSEG:  The official term for the price to compare in New Jersey is Basic Generation Service (BGS) rate.  The BGS rate for PSEG businesses is a little complicated because they use different measurements for different charges.  They charge a per KWh rate for energy commodity, and then a dollar per KW demand for transmission and capacity.  This causes the total BGS to change slightly from month to month.  To get an overall idea of what your BGS default rate is, take your total supply charge and divide it by the total KWh amount for that month.  All of this is stated on the bill.  Then you can compare competitive rates against the total BGS rate to see what type of savings are available.  Keep in mind that BGS rate include a 7% NJ tax.

JCPL:  The official term for the price to compare in New Jersey is Basic Generation Service (BGS) rate.  The BGS rate includes energy and transmission charges.

Electricity customers who are serviced by the utility PSEG are finding savings on their electric bills by shopping for lower electric rates.  Electric shopping in New Jersey is picking up as PSEG and JCPL get ready to set their summer rate increases.

Customers who have not shopped and compared electricity prices are paying high default rates.  The default electricity rates in NJ are set for one year at a time starting on June 1 and ending on May 31.  The summer months (June through September) have a different set of energy rates than the non-summer months (October through May).  While electricity savings are currently available for customers who compare energy prices, the savings are expected to be even greater once the summer default rates take effect on June 1.

In addition to lowering your electric bill, many of the competitive energy suppliers offer promotions such as gift cards and cash back bonuses.  Below are electric rate offers that also have promotional offers.

Electricity choice is certainly becoming a reality in New Jersey.  Customers of PSEG, JCPL, and Atlantic City Electric are seeing more and more electricity options.  One year ago their were less than a handful of options for NJ residential electric customers, now there are about a dozen electricity companies offering electric supply service with more filing the paperwork to enter the market.  True electric competition is taking place in New Jersey.

Compare Competitive PSEG Rates (updated daily):

Electric choice options are heating up in some markets as we begin to enter the high energy summer season.  Customers who use websites to perform electric price comparisons will give themselves access to the most options and highest electric rate savings.

In Philadelphia, electricity customers of PECO energy are experiencing electric choice for the first time and a surprising number of residential and business customers are power shopping for lower energy rates.  PECO energy default rates are going to rise in the summer which has prompted people to explore electric rate options quicker than some had expected.  Because PECO default rates change on a quarterly  basis initial savings have not been huge, but people are starting to see that locking in a low electric rate can be beneficial as it protects you from future increases.  The other side of that argument is that default rates can go down causing you to be stuck paying a higher electric rate with another electric supplier.  While this a possibility, historic energy prices have shown that rates tend to go up in the summer.  Unfortunately, it will probably take a large energy spike for some people to start looking into their electricity choice options

In Texas, which has enjoyed a competitive electricity market since 2002, thousands of customers who had not previously power shopped saw their electric rates triple in the summer of 2008 due to rising natural gas prices.  Electric customers who had previously locked in low rates were not effected by the increases.  Today the majority of Texas electricity customers are in some type of electric supply contract.

New Jersey electricity customers are also getting low electric rate offers that can protect them from summer rate increases.  Performing an energy comparison of all the offers will allow electricity customers to get the lowest offers with the best promotional offers.  Promotional offers as high as a $75 gift card are available in New Jersey.