For the second straight summer, residential and business customers of the central Pennsylvania utility Pennsylvania Power & Light will see their generation electricity rates rise drastically. PP&L customers who have not looked for lower electric rates will see their default power prices rise by 15% this summer. Consumers who have searched, compared, and selected to buy their electricity from alternative energy companies will not be effected by the increase and instead continue to pay prices that they have found through alternative suppliers.
The generation and transmission prices are the charges that will see the summer rate increase while distribution charges will not be effected. Generation and transmission are the charges that make up the Price to Compare component of the default electric rate that customers who have not selected a competitive supplier pay. Pennsylvania allows consumers to have the ability to shop for lower electric rates that replace the default generation and transmission charges resulting in a lower electric bill.
Business customers in the PPL region will see an even more drastic rate increase. Commercial consumers will see their generation and transmission electric rates increase by 43% from $0.06387 to $0.09154 per KWh. More than 50% of commercial customers are paying the default PPL electric rates, which means that these businesses will see their electric bills increase by 43% on June 1, 2012. With competitive electric rates near all time lows, businesses are being urged to shop for competitive power prices. Still, many small business owners remain skeptical and uneducated on the benefits and structure of Pennsylvania electricity choice.