Failure to Switch Electricity Providers Costs PPL Customers

Electricity customers in Pennsylvania have a choice about who provides their electricity. Despite this, many people fail to evaluate their options, preferring to remain with the company that they already know: PPL. The result is that a lot of people in the state are paying far more for electricity than they need to.

For more than a decade, the people in Pennsylvania didn’t have to worry about their electricity rates going up. A price cap on energy had kept electricity prices at the same rate that they were in 1996. That’s changed, now, though. The cap has already come off for PPL customers and will be removed for Met-Ed customers at the end of this year.

Prices for PPL customers have already been raised by about 30%. In other words, if you’re a PPL customer, you’re paying 30% more than you were one year ago even though your energy use may not have changed at all. The situation has made a lot of people feel powerless because even those who cut down drastically on home energy use in anticipation of the rate hike are seeing higher bills than they had in the past.

PPL customers are not helpless, however. It is possible to choose from different electricity service providers to get your electricity. PPL customers can shop around to find the best price on energy for them and receive a lower PA electric bill. Just because PPL may be the default energy provider doesn’t mean that they’re the best option. In fact, PPL is currently seeking permission for an additional 5% rate increase, which means that electricity bills could climb even higher. This additional increase would raise the average Pennsylvania electric bill another $7+ dollars per month.

Smart customers have already switched to other electricity providers that can offer the lower rates. They realize that they can get the exact same service with no service interruption and yet pay significantly less money just by switching PA electric providers. About one third of PPL’s customers have switched to another energy provider in 2010. However, that leaves two thirds of customers still paying hundreds of dollars per year more than they need to for electricity.

Source: http://dailyitem.com/0100_news/x336267110/PPL-seeks-5-distribution-rate-hike