July Electric Bills May Contain Rate Shock for Some New Jersey Customers
New Jersey business customers will soon be receiving electric bills for their usage in June and, for some customers, it will represent the first month in which customers have been switched to paying a price for electricity that varies each hour of the day. These hourly rates — applicable to certain customers who do not choose a third party energy supplier — can be extremely volatile, especially during high usage months in the summer, and may produce rate shock for customers who are used to paying a flat rate for electricity throughout the day. As we’ve previously noted, the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities mandated that commercial and industrial customers with demands between 750 kW and 1,000 kW be moved onto the hourly electric rates if they take Basic Generation Service from the utility. Customers above 1,000 kW are already subject to these hourly rates. Customers in these rate
Nearly Half of Illinois Customers Unaware of Ability to Choose Lower Electric Rate
A recent survey of Illinois customers reveals that nearly half are unaware of their ability to shop for a competing electric supplier that can offer them a lower electric rate . According to a poll conducted by Kelton Research, which surveyed customers at Commonwealth Edison and Ameren, only 54% of respondents were aware that they have a choice of which electricity provider to use. Illinois has offered customers at ComEd and Ameren the right to choose their electric supplier since 1997, to provide customers with a tool to save money on their electric bills . Illinois business customers can save 20-30% on their electric rate — with no change in reliability or service — just by choosing a new electric supplier rather than the utility, which will continue to deliver this electricity over the utility’s wires. Residential customers can save 10-15%. Many customers, however, especially among small and medium-sized businesses,
PPL Customers Hit Hard By Rate Increase
Business customers at PPL Electric Utilities in Pennsylvania are being hit hard by the rate hike that went into effect June 1, but can drastically cut their electric bill by shopping for a competing energy supplier at SaveOnEnergy.com . LndAs we noted back in May, most small and mid-sized business customers at PPL who don’t shop for power started paying over 13¢ per kilowatt-hour (kWh) for electricity effective June 1 — an increase of 33%. However, an even bigger rate hike occurred for those business customers served on PPL’s optional Time of Use rates (G1V, G3V-TOU). During the winter, many customers opted onto PPL’s Time of Use rates because, due to an anomaly in how the power was procured, the winter rates were artificially below market, at 7.5 cents on-peak, and 6.1 cents off-peak. However, these Time of Use rates spiked on June 1 as well, and are now substantially
How SaveOnEnergy.com Finds New Jersey Customers the Lowest Electric Rate
New Jersey has opened up its electric industry to competition, allowing competing “third party suppliers” to offer you lower rates for your electric supply. For business customers, savings of 20-30% are available by choosing a competing energy supplier . Additionally, choosing an alternative energy provider protects large New Jersey customers from the volatile “hourly” prices they would pay if they bought their power supplies from the utility. However, shopping for a competing electric supplier is still a new concept to many New Jersey businesses, especially small and mid-sized businesses who don’t have specific procurement managers. That’s where SaveOnEnergy.com comes in, by making finding the lowest electric rate quick and easy. Only SaveOnEnergy.com offers New Jersey commercial and industrial customers the opportunity to have up to eight energy suppliers compete directly, head-to-head, to win the customer’s business. Through its exclusive commercial exchange portal, SaveOnEnergy.com leverages New Jersey customers ‘ power to
Illinois Businesses Can Find Lower Electric Rates Versus New ComEd, Ameren Rates Effective June 1
Commonwealth Edison and Ameren are adjusting their electric rates on June 1 as called for annually. Although the new utility rates for small business and residential customers are lower than the current rates, the rates are still higher than what customers can find in the market by shopping for a lower priced electric supplier . SaveOnEnergy.com can lower Illinois customers’ electric bills by finding these lower rates, and forcing competing energy suppliers to undercut each other to win your business. Medium and large business customers at both ComEd and Ameren no longer receive a flat rate for their Illinois electricity from the utility, as they are instead subjected to volatile hourly pricing unless they choose an alternative retail electric supplier . These volatile hourly rates are not affected by the June 1 rate change. However, small business and residential customers may still receive a flat rate from the utility that
Business Customers at PECO, PPL Facing Large Electric Rate Hikes if Not Shopping for Power
Commercial and industrial electric customers at PECO and PPL Electric Utilities are facing large hikes of up to 33% in their electric rates in the next month if they remain with the utility for their power supply. Customers can avoid these rate hikes, and find a lower electric rate , using SaveOnEnergy.com to shop for their electric supplier . PECO and PPL are the two largest utilities in Pennsylvania energy , covering most of the eastern half of the state, including Philadelphia, Allentown, Scranton, Bethlehem, Wilkes-Barre, and Harrisburg. SaveOnEnergy.com had previously alerted small and mid-sized commercial electric customers at PPL that a rate hike was looming on June 1, but the actual increase is even higher than PPL’s original estimate. Starting June 1, PPL’s Price to Compare for most small and mid-sized businesses (rate classes GS-1 and GS-3 small) will jump to 13.028 cents per kWh, from the current 9.766 cents
Higher Hourly Electric Rates to Take Effect for Some New Jersey Businesses in Two Weeks
Only two weeks remain before certain commercial and industrial New Jersey electric customers are moved onto a new electric rate mechanism using hourly pricing, which will expose customers to spiking prices up to five times the normal rate (or more) if they do not shop for a competing energy supplier . As SaveOnEnergy.com noted several months ago, the cutoff for hourly priced Basic Generation Service — the default supply offered to non-shopping customers by the New Jersey utilities like PSE&G and JCP&L — will decrease to 750 kW on June 1, 2011. The current cutoff is 1,000 kW, and the lower threshold means customers with peak demands from 750 kW to 999 kW who currently receive a single flat rate for their power from the utility will soon be paying a unique, volatile energy rate during every different hour of the day. These customers being forced onto hourly pricing include
Larger Savings Available for New Jersey Businesses By Shopping for Electricity
Electric rates for New Jersey businesses buying power supplies from their utility will change on June 1, with some components increasing and others decreasing, but customers can still find significant savings by shopping for a competing energy supplier on SaveOnEnergy.com . Customers in New Jersey who do not shop for electricity are served by their utility on a default product called Basic Generation Service, under which the utility supplies the customer’s power as a backstop service. In the case of small and mid-sized businesses, the utility, such as PSE&G or JCP&L, buys power for Basic Generation Service (BGS) over a mandated three-year period — meaning that the utility must lock-in pricing over this three-year period and cannot take advantage of favorable dips in the wholesale market the way that competing energy suppliers can. This means, even when BGS rates decrease, competing electric suppliers are typically able to offer even greater
PPL Small Business Electric Rate Projected to Rise 15% on June 1
Electric rates for small and medium business customers at PPL Electric Utilities in Pennsylvania are projected to increase 15% starting June 1 if customers buy their electric supply from PPL. Customers who choose a competing electric supplier using SaveOnEnergy.com can avoid paying these higher rates. Currently, small and medium sized business customers at PPL pay a rate of 9.766 cents per kilowatt-hour. This rate will change on June 1, however. Based on current market pricing, PPL has officially estimated the new small business electric rate as 11.22 cents per kilowatt-hour, a 15% increase. PPL will not announce the final electric rate to be paid by small businesses for the period starting June 1 until May 20. However, in the past, PPL’s estimates have not been off by any more than a few tenths of a cent, so small business customers at PPL are certainly facing a significant rate increase if
SaveOnEnergy.com Can Save New Jersey Businesses Thousands of Dollars
New Jersey businesses have the opportunity to save thousands of dollars on their electric bills with one simple and easy step — choosing a new, lower priced energy supplier on SaveOnEnergy.com . SaveOnEnergy.com has been saving New Jersey customers on their electric and natural gas bills for years, and with electric rates in the market remaining low, SaveOnEnergy.com is making a big push to educate New Jersey customers about their ability to shop for a new electricity provider to save money on their bill. New Jersey’s electric industry has been opened to competition, with competing “third party suppliers” now able to offer customers lower rates for their electric supply versus the customer’s old utility like Public Service Electric & Gas, Jersey Central Power & Light, and Atlantic City Electric. These new competing electric suppliers are able to use bulk purchasing and other strategies to undercut the utilities’ price, and save