PA Readers, Are you Ready for January 1st?

If you live in Pennsylvania then you probably know that your electric bill will increase by about 30% in 2010. If you didn't know, then what rock have you been hiding under??

Back in 1996, our brilliant state imposed electric rate caps that have kept our price for electric at 1996 levels all of these years. Without the cap, the cost to generate electricity would have gone up gradually over the years. With the rate cap, we have been paying artificially low rates and effective January 1, 2010, there will be a one-time increase to bring our rates up to current market levels. It is estimated that the total monthly electric bills for residential and commercial customers will increase by about 30%. OUCH, double OUCH!

Rather than grumble...okay, you can grumble, but there are a few things you can do to help alleviate some of the pain.

1. Educate yourself. I haven't looked at my electric bill in years. The reason...I signed up for automatic payments from my checking account several years ago. I now have to go online to review it and quite frankly I haven't done it. Kilowatts per hour, generation, distribution, blah, blah, blah. But to truly save, we need to understand the situation, our bill and all of the terms.


2. Shop. Slowly, new competitive suppliers are entering the market. I have yet to see any literature in my mailbox, but a few companies have been listed in our newspaper. The state Public Utilities Commission lists competitive suppliers on their website at http://www.puc.state.pa.us/


3. Conserve. If you read this blog, I am probably preaching to the choir, but now is really the time to perform your own home energy audit to look for ways to conserve energy within your home. The 30% rate increase is very real, unless the state decides to extend the caps at the last minute, but don't hold your breath.

My husband and I need to educate ourselves and do some comparison shopping for our home and our business. As I learn myself, I will try to relay the information to you.

If you live in PA, have you thought about the rate increase? Have you done any comparison shopping yet? How are you going to conserve? If you are not from PA, have you gone through a rate increase in your state? Any advice?

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