As electricity deregulation markets have matured around the country over the last several years, electric suppliers have gotten tricky on how they present their offers on contracts. In short, the energy supply charge should include several components including the energy commodity, capacity, line losses, ancillary charges, and sometimes transmission charges depending on your specific market. Many suppliers will show a rate that just includes the energy commodity charge, and then pass on the extra charges through another category on the bill.
Why do they do this?
Simply put, they do this to make their rate look lower than their competitors. For example, one supplier might give a rate that includes everything for 7.5 cents. Another supplier might give a rate that just includes energy commodity for 6 cents. At first the 6 cent offer appears to be great. However, when you get the bill you will see a line for the 6 cent charge followed by an additional section that has another 3 cents for all of the addition charges. So in the end, that 6 cents is really 9 cents.
How do they get away with this?
It is all in the electricity contract!
It is extremely important to take the time to review all electricity contract offers to ensure that you are getting a true apples to apples comparison.
One of the reasons ElectricityWatch.org was set up was because I went through such a deceitful practice. I signed an electricity contract for a fixed rate of 7 cents when in reality I ended up paying 8-9 cents per month. During this time I could have paid a fixed rate of 6.65 cents.
Though everything is in the contract, many electricity companies have gotten very smart as to how they word their electric contracts so that the consumer overlooks important factors relating to the rate. If you would like us to review your business electric contract, feel free to post a comment with the request and we will contact you to do so.
Keep in mind this is for business electricity customers. Residential customers are protected by their state utility commissions from such practices. Businesses, however, are expected to do their own due diligence.
There are currently savings for Connecticut electricity customers who are serviced by the utility the United Illuminating Company (UI). Both residential and business customers are finding savings by shopping the competitive electric market.
Residential electric customers in the UI service area are paying a default rate of 11.568 cents per kilowatt hour. The lowest electric rate in the UI utility area that we found was for 9.6 cents per kilowatt hour, a 12% savings. Similarly, a 9.6 cents electric rate was found for small business customers in Connecticut compared to the UI default rate of 11.5918, 1 7.3 percent savings.
Electric savings are real in Connecticut. If you have not looked into competitive power prices we strongly encourage you to do so. There is no reason to pay 12-20% more a month on your electric bills when you can easily save money by signing an electric contract with a reputable electric supplier.
For a list of electric suppliers in your area send us an email with your state and local utility company.
We are also seing electric rate savings in the following utility service areas: PSEG, ACE, JCPL, CPL, PPL, BGE, Delmarva, all of Texas
Maryland electric customers, both residential and business, are finding lower electric rates when they shop in the competitive market. Customers who are served by Baltimore Gas and Electric (BGE) and PEPCO are finding the greatest savings.
The exact rate and savings that you can find depend on your individual rate class by your utility and historic usage patterns, but most electricity customers in Maryland can save between 10-20%. As an example, current the current price to compare (default rate) for a BGE class G type 1 business customer is $0.1089 per kwh. We have found a 24 month fixed offer for such a customer at a rate of $0.092 per kwh, a 15 percent savings.
Most Maryland Utility companies, like BGE and PEPCO, offer consolidated billing options which means that customers will still receive their monthly electric bill from their same utility company if they choose to lock in a low fixed rate with a competitive electric supplier.
Competitive electric rates in Connecticut remain well below the price to compare default rates of CLP. Despite this, only 27% of customers (residential, commercial, and Industrial) have chosen an alternative supplier.
Small and medium commercial customers in the CLP territory on default service (i.e. have not chosen a competitive supplier) are paying a rate of $0.11723 per KWh. By contracting out with another electric provider, these customers can lock in rates below $0.10 per KWh and see their bills reduced by over 15%.
Over two dozen electric providers are active in Connecticut for residential and business electric consumers. We recommend signing an agreement that will give you a fixed rate as opposed to a variable rate that can change from month to month. The fixed electric rate will give you an apples to apples comparison against the CLP default rate and will guarantee that you save money as long as the rate is below the 0.117233 default rate.
Ask us for a comparison chart for your specific home or building. Power prices are low.
