PAPowerSwitch: Pennsylvania Electric Rate Comparison Guide

PAPowerSwitch is Pennsylvania's official electricity comparison tool. The PA PUC runs it, which means you're not dealing with some commercial website trying to push you toward their highest-paying partners.

They launched this thing back in 1999 when Pennsylvania deregulated electricity. Every licensed EGS (Electric Generation Supplier) in the state has to post their residential rates here. That's the rule. So you're seeing the whole picture, not just whoever paid for top placement.

It covers all the major utilities. PECO in Philadelphia. PPL Electric around Allentown and Harrisburg. Duquesne Light in Pittsburgh. Met-Ed in Reading and the southeastern counties. Plus Penelec, Penn Power, and West Penn Power for other parts of the state.

The website is at papowerswitch.com. Simple enough.

Using PAPowerSwitch takes maybe five minutes. Here's how it works.

Pull up papowerswitch.com and type in your ZIP code. The site figures out who your utility is and shows you the offers available in your area. You can filter by rate type if you want fixed, variable, or renewable energy. Sort by price to see the cheapest rates first. Click on any offer to read the complete terms and conditions.

Each listing shows the supplier name, their rate per kWh, how long the contract runs, and whether they charge monthly fees. That's the basic info you need.

Grab your current electric bill before you start comparing. Find the "Price to Compare" line. That's what your utility charges for generation if you don't shop around. Any supplier rate lower than your PTC could save you money. Could. We'll get into the gotchas in a minute.

The Price to Compare is your baseline. It's what your utility charges for generation if you don't pick a competitive supplier. You'll find it on your electric bill and on your utility's website.

This number changes. Most utilities update it quarterly or monthly based on wholesale market auctions. So don't compare against what you paid six months ago. Use your current PTC.

Here's the math. Say your PTC is 8 cents per kWh and a supplier offers 6 cents. You're saving 2 cents per kilowatt-hour. The average Pennsylvania household uses 800 to 1,000 kWh monthly. That 2-cent savings works out to $16 to $20 per month. Over a year, you're looking at $192 to $240.

Not life-changing money, but it pays for something. Just make sure you're comparing apples to apples with your actual current rate.

PAPowerSwitch shows three types of rates. You need to know what you're signing up for.

Fixed-rate plans lock in a specific price per kWh for the whole contract. Usually 6 to 36 months. The rate stays the same no matter what happens in the wholesale market. You know what you're paying. That's the whole point.

Variable-rate plans can change monthly based on wholesale costs and whatever the supplier decides. They might start lower than fixed rates to hook you. Then they can spike hard during high-demand periods. I've seen people get burned badly by variable rates.

Renewable energy plans source power from wind, solar, or other clean stuff. Sometimes they cost about the same as conventional electricity. Sometimes they cost more. Depends on the market.

The PA PUC makes suppliers label what type of rate they're offering. Most people should stick with fixed rates. You don't want surprise spikes.

Watch out for plans with crazy-low introductory rates that jump after a month or two. That's a trap.

PAPowerSwitch makes suppliers disclose their terms, but you still need to dig into the fine print. Here's what eats into your savings.

Monthly service fees are fixed charges no matter how much electricity you use. A supplier charging 6 cents per kWh plus a $10 monthly fee might cost more than one charging 7 cents with no fee. Do the math.

Early termination fees can hit you for $100 or more if you cancel before the contract ends. Some suppliers lock you in hard.

Introductory rates look great on the landing page. Then they jump after one or two months. You end up paying way more than your utility's default rate.

Some renewable plans charge separate fees for renewable energy certificates on top of the base rate. That green energy costs extra.

Buy-back plans tie your price to market rates in complicated ways. Most people can't figure out what they're paying.

Before you enroll, click through to read the actual terms and conditions. Check if the advertised rate is ongoing or just a promotional teaser. Calculate your total cost using your average monthly usage plus any fees. Look up the supplier on the PA PUC website to see if they have violations or tons of complaints.

Pennsylvania splits electricity delivery across different companies depending on where you live. Your utility matters because it determines what offers you'll see on PAPowerSwitch.

PECO covers Philadelphia and the suburbs. About 1.6 million customers.^[3] That's the biggest utility in Pennsylvania. Duquesne Light handles the Pittsburgh metro area. PPL Electric serves central and eastern PA including Allentown, Harrisburg, and Lancaster.

Met-Ed operates in southern and eastern counties including Reading. Penelec covers rural northern and western parts of the state. Penn Power and West Penn Power handle other western PA areas. Both are FirstEnergy companies.

Each utility has its own Price to Compare rate. PECO's PTC won't match PPL's. The savings you can get vary by region based on what wholesale prices your utility pays.

Type your ZIP code into PAPowerSwitch to see what's available where you live.

PAPowerSwitch lets you sort and filter offers to narrow things down.

You can sort by price to see the lowest rates first. But the cheapest headline rate isn't always the best deal once you factor in monthly fees. You can filter by rate type to show only fixed-rate plans or only renewable energy options. Contract length filters help if you want short-term flexibility or a long-term rate lock.

If you're shopping for multiple locations in Pennsylvania, the utility filter lets you compare what's available in different territories.

Once you've got your filtered list, check out the supplier column. Do you recognize the company? Click their name to see complete offer details, contact info, and the actual terms. Make notes on your top three choices. Don't just pick the first one that looks cheap.

Call or check the supplier's website to verify the rate before you commit. PAPowerSwitch shows what's current when you look at it, but offers can change without warning. Confirm the details directly with the supplier so you don't get surprised.

PAPowerSwitch has some blind spots you should know about.

It doesn't screen for quality. Any licensed supplier can post offers regardless of how many complaints they have or what their BBB rating looks like. The suppliers control their own listings, so they might emphasize promotional teaser rates instead of showing you what the price becomes after the promo ends.

You can't enroll directly through the site. You have to contact each supplier separately by phone or through their website. That's extra friction.

The rates you see are just snapshots. They can change without notice. What you saw yesterday might not be available today. The site only shows licensing status. It doesn't rate suppliers on quality or reliability. You're flying blind on customer service.

Business rates aren't always complete. If you're shopping for commercial electricity, you might not see the full picture. Some suppliers save their best deals for their own websites instead of posting them on PAPowerSwitch.

Use PAPowerSwitch as your starting point. Then look up suppliers on the PA PUC complaint database. Read consumer reviews. Don't just pick based on the lowest number you see.

Once you've picked a plan on PAPowerSwitch, you enroll directly with the supplier. Not through the website. You have to contact them yourself.

Click on the offer to get the supplier's contact info and website. Grab your utility account number from your electric bill before you call or fill out their online form.

Most suppliers let you enroll by phone, through their website, or by mailing back an enrollment form. You'll need your account number, service address, and basic personal information.

After you enroll, the supplier tells your utility about the switch. The whole transition takes one to two billing cycles. Your utility keeps delivering your electricity and sending your bills. The only thing that changes is the generation charge. That switches to your new supplier's rate.

Keep your enrollment confirmation and contract documents somewhere you can find them. Put the contract end date on your calendar. If you don't, the supplier will auto-renew you into a different rate that might be way higher. Shop around again before the contract ends.

PAPowerSwitch is the official tool, but other sites can make things easier.

ElectricRates.org automatically calculates your savings against your current Price to Compare. You don't have to pull out a calculator. It only shows PA PUC-licensed suppliers, so you're not getting scammed by unlicensed operations. Enrollment takes under two minutes instead of hunting down supplier contact info and filling out forms.

Other comparison sites might offer supplier ratings, customer reviews, and features PAPowerSwitch doesn't have.

What works: use PAPowerSwitch to see all the offers that are out there. Then switch over to ElectricRates.org to enroll if you want the faster process and automatic savings math.

No matter which site you use to shop, verify that suppliers are licensed through the PA PUC before you sign anything. Licensed doesn't mean good, but unlicensed definitely means trouble.