Understanding Electric Choice

Tri-County REC has no generation and will not supply generation service or energy outside its territory.  Tri-County REC will not be participating as an Electric Generation Supplier in the PA Choice Program.

Tri-County REC's "Price to Compare" = 4.7400¢/kWh
(Includes Transmission and Applicable State Taxes)

What do You Need to Know?

PA Choice gives customers the option of choosing an alternate Electric Generation Supplier or staying with the incumbent supplier.   PA Choice allows the customer to select a generator based on price, products and incentives, and personal preferences as to the type of generation to purchase, i.e., nuclear or green energy such as wind, solar or hydro power.

PA choice will not change the industry's tradition toward safety, reliability and maintenance.

Customers will be choosing the company that generates their electricity, the Electric Generation Supplier, also known as the EGS.   As the current Electric Distribution Company or EDC, Tri-County will continue to deliver this electricity to the customer, respond to outages and maintain the local electric distribution system.

Be an Informed Shopper

• It's important to be an informed shopper. Keep in mind, contracts are legal agreements and some suppliers could require fees [penalties] for terminating agreements or switching. Below is a list of Questions to Ask a potential supplier.
• Compare offers from more than one supplier.
• Ask questions.  Make a Shoppers Comparison Guide.
• Compare the supplier's price per kWh with the Price to Compare supplied by your EDC.

After you have shopped for the best deal and carefully reviewed the information from different suppliers, you must inform your selected supplier of your choice.  That EGS will notify your EDC of your desire to obtain generation from them.

Your EDC will then send you a letter confirming your EGS selection. If the selection is not correct, you have 10 days to contact your EDC before it becomes final.  If the 10 day waiting period ends more than 16 days prior to your regularly scheduled meter reading, you will become a customer of that EGS on the next read date. If there are less than 16 days until your next meter reading date, you will become a customer of that EGS on the next month's read date.

Questions to Ask

• Is the EGS licensed by the PUC?
• What is the length of this agreement?
• Will the price stay the same for the entire time?
• Is there a penalty for canceling before the time is up?
• Or for switching suppliers?
• Do you offer special pricing options?
• Do you offer interruptible or time-of-day rates?
• Does my rate depend on how much electricity I use?
• Or when I use it?
• Do I need a special meter?
• Is there a charge for the meter?
• What steps must I take to switch suppliers?
• Is there an access or exit fee for starting/stopping supply?
• Do you have a budget billing option?
• Do you participate in low income assistance programs?

How to stay informed

Here are several helpful web sites we have found which may be useful in providing additional information about customer choice.

www.utilitychoice.org is the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission's electric choice web site.

www.electricitychoice.com is an independent site that covers customer choice and deregulation issues across the nation

www.energycentral.com is a news brief service.  Each day, they e-mail several short summaries of articles concerning the electric industry.  If the summary appears to be useful, you may request the entire article.  Visit the site for more info.

www.energyguide.com provides neutral, comparison shopping via an interactive search for an alternative EGS in your area.

www.nreca.org has several restructuring articles and news items in several locations within the website.

www.oca.state.pa.us is the Pennsylvania Office of the Consumer Advocate's website that provides additional information about alternative EGS's in your area

http://puc.paonline.com is the Pennsylvania PUC's site with information about customer choice in PA.

www.puc.state.nh.us is the New Hampshire PUC's site.  New Hampsire is well advanced in de-regulation.

www.cpuc.ca.gov is the California PUC's site.  California is also well indoctrinated in customer choice

http://energy.cas.psu.edu/ is provided by the Penn State Cooperative Extension Service and is an excellent site for deregulation info.

What Customer Choice Means to You

Consumer's Dictionary for Electric Competition

Customer Choice Tips

Electric Generation Supplier (EGS) Information

Price to Compare