subject: How The Pa Power Switch Saves You Money [print this page] When you think of saving money on your PA electric rates, you probably think of conserving energy. This includes the usual good practices, such as turning lights off when you are not home and adjusting your thermostat a few degrees. However, more and more PA citizens are discovering that switching PA electric suppliers via the PA power switch program is another great way to save money.
Up until the mid 1990s, citizens did not have any choices when it came to PA electric suppliers. Generally, their PA electric supplier was the same as their utility. This means that the utility company created, transmitted and distributed the energy to customers.
However, by 1996 things were changing as the legislature deregulated energy, which introduced residents to the PA power switch program. Now residents had the opportunity to choose their own supplier from among many alternative PA electric suppliers. And due to this increased competition among PA electric suppliers, these companies offered competitive rates.
Here is how the PA power switch works:
1. Residents review alternative PA electric suppliers and their rates. Just switching would not save you money, which is why you need to compare rates across PA electric suppliers.
2. Inform your utility company that you are switching PA electric suppliers. Usually, your new supplier will do this for you, but you should inquire about the procedure just to be on the safe side.
3. Save on your PA electric rates. If you took the time to compare PA electric suppliers carefully, then you should see savings on the supplier portion of your electric bill.
The good news is that those who participate in the PA power switch will still get the same great service from their utility company. That is because the utility company still transmits and distributes the power, takes care of customer billing, deals with outages, builds infrastructure, maintains infrastructure and so on.
In other words, once you have switched PA electric suppliers, the only thing the utility company does not do is supply the power. Thus you can rest assured that there would not be any interruptions to your service, since your utility company will make sure you get the power you need.
As mentioned, just participating in the PA power switch would not get you great rates. Instead, you need to compare PA electric suppliers to see which ones will give you the best rates according to your usage and other factors.
