Changing electric supplier - worth it?

[nswef]

We just got a notice in the mail that we can easily change to Constellation energy from Potomac Edison- no charge, no notification- fixed rate of 6.99cent a Kilowatt hour...I haven't looked at the web site yet. It reminds me of when we could choose phone service and I can't say that was a good thing for me or not. any advice or experiences to share?

[Williamsmith]

There are two services you pay for. You pay to have electric produced for you ...and you pay to have it delivered to you. Default service is producer and deliverer the same. But you may chose another separate producer....because it may be cheaper or because it may be from alternative energy like wind or solar or a combination thereof.

So usually there is a way to search producers and sort by price or length of contract or green energy. I chose the cheapest producer which was lower than my supplier or price to compare. It is just like shopping for the best price and it does not mean you will get separate bills. My oi will get an itemized bill that will show your price and the price to compare or default service.

I have done it and I like the ability to chose.

[razz]

6.99 cents per KWH! That is really low. Is that the norm in the US?

I pay up to 17.99 cents per KWH in peak time, half that in off peak. Delivery is on top of that.

Enjoy it! I do everything to reduce my consumption.

[rosarugosa]

Nswef: This might not be universal, but check first to see if your current supplier will charge you for changing suppliers in the middle of a cycle, or whatever they call it. We were going to change from National Grid at one point. Apparently they update their rates on 5/1 & 11/1 (or something close to that). If we switched on other than those dates, they said they would bill us for the difference between the fixed rate and variable rate for the amount of time we received service for them during that cycle or period. I'm a little vague on what the precise details were, but my point is to check to see if you would be subject to anything like that.