PECO sending emails warning customers their winter energy bills will be significantly higher

Submitted by kosherdog1027 t3_zea9xc in Pennsylvania

*SORRY - shouldn't have written "significantly" in the title. Didn't mean to misrepresent this based on my assumptions.*

I've seen a few local news stories mentioning how winter energy bills will be significantly higher, but it wasn't clear to me what the cause was.The price of oil heat would increase due to how much crude oil is valued, but what about electric heat customers in the Philadelphia suburbs. Isn't most of that coming from the nearby nuclear power plant? Is PECO raising the generation or transmission costs?

We lease solar panels that we had installed a few years ago (couldn't afford a purchase at the time), so we split my electric sources: one from the company I leased the panels from at 10 cents/kWh and any extra we may need from PECO at their rate. I wonder if we'll see less of an impact from this?

https://preview.redd.it/nd3co5jyua4a1.jpg?width=1179&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d9e937087250d5f141c2d79966de36b73598a7a3

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feudalle t1_iz58g2e wrote

I don't see the word significantly in the email. It looks like a heads up email. Hey you use electric heat, it's winter so you'll use heat and your bill will be higher than when you aren't using the heat. I don't see anything about a rate increase.

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Seefate t1_iz5iwar wrote

PECO's energy rate is going to ~$0.098 per kWh in January based on www.papowerswitch.com which is a sharp increase over the last few years (avg. $0.07 kWh). I'm guessing that's why they sent this out to folks, myself included.

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gderti t1_iz5py4z wrote

Dang... PPL in the LV is currently at 14.612 and transport probably another 50% on that... 7cents last year... And raised every half year since...

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ronreadingpa t1_iz5rl9n wrote

That was my thought too. 9.8 cents seems pretty reasonable compared to what many other utilities are charging.

PPL default rate is outrageous. I strongly believe they didn't shop for the best price, which they're legally supposed to, so people would be encouraged to switch to suppliers that are owned / controlled by PPL and/or insiders. Would like to see this investigated.

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gderti t1_iz5s9lp wrote

I've looked.. recently there's no choice... I just ended my previous 24 month@6.6. So this smarts...

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ronreadingpa t1_iz5urcq wrote

Not surprised. It's a lose-lose situation for PPL customers. They're stuck paying high rates and have little to no viable alternatives. PPL seemingly didn't negotiate the best default rates they could. The far lower rates of surrounding utilities reaffirms that belief.

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gderti t1_iz5sx96 wrote

I take that back.... There's some at 11 now... For 12 months... Wondering what ppl is gonna do come June but 3cents is valid

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Pink_Slyvie t1_iz7lmwu wrote

How can I tell which ones are legit and which are scams

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gderti t1_iz7mdk2 wrote

In the end, at least for PPL, the generation company had no effect on me as PPL is who bills me... I recommend making sure there's no start up, monthly, or early termination fee... That way, you can call your local supplier to cancel... Just keep all the paperwork. And Mark on your calendar when your period is up so that you change soon as you have to... So that they can't up your rate before you're gone...

Good luck...

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vasquca1 t1_iz7vomk wrote

Substantial 🤷‍♂️ Significant. Get ready to pay bigly

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Advanced-Guard-4468 t1_iz5o6eo wrote

It will be higher this year than last due to a rate increase across the board for whatever you use to heat (except wood).

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feudalle t1_iz5te6g wrote

I know it sucks, I paid over $5 a gallon for oil. The Brits are actually having rampant fire wood inflation right now with the ng cut backs from russia.

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Iheartpoopjokes t1_izp7it0 wrote

I wish that were true for me. I use a woodstove to heat my finished basement. My guy's prices increased 25% and he's still the cheapest one around.

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kosherdog1027 OP t1_iz5bvrh wrote

True, I assumed that they wouldn't bother sending an email anticipating just a marginal increase in energy costs. I know people on fixed incomes or struggling financially may need to make use of the support services, but I assumed the amount must be a significant percentage to warrant sending a message ahead of time.

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Varolyn t1_iz5pbj1 wrote

Pretty glad that our house uses natural gas heat. While gas heat has gone up as well, it's still cheaper than electric heat and heating oil.

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qrpc t1_iz5qnqe wrote

Most of the electricity in Pennsylvania comes from fracked gas plants these days and increasing gas prices is driving increase in electricity.

I'm glad my all-electric house has solar.

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mcvoid1 t1_iz66e1t wrote

"It's another... PECO Power Play!"

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bitterbeerfaces t1_iz5s3rw wrote

Check out the Standard Offer Program. Not a PECO customer, but it's supposed to be statewide. I locked in my rate this past May for a year and am paying 0.063 until May 2023. We have an oil heater, and are trying to use our electric space heaters as much as we safely can. Keeping our thermostat at 64 during the day, and using the space heater to keep us comfortable.

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openwheelr t1_iz76l49 wrote

There is no Standard Offer through PPL this year. No provider would take it on. I took that offer last December, the day before rates went up. It was the best rate at that time and I locked it in for a year. Now we're going to pay >50% more.

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bitterbeerfaces t1_iz7z8dl wrote

That is going to hurt. I wonder if no new provider is statewide or specific to PPL??

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openwheelr t1_iz80qlc wrote

Well they're independent so if you're not a PPL customer, then maybe there is something comparable with PECO, etc.

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vasquca1 t1_iz7vybj wrote

Damn solar looking more and more attractive

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EmergencySundae t1_iz5o9au wrote

I've had electric heat for almost 20 years now. The first winter was a huge shock for me, bill-wise (it did not help that the apartment may as well have had windows made of plastic wrap).

What I'm surprised they don't mention in this email is that budget billing is a very easy option to handle this.

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Fruitypebblesx1 t1_iz77wk6 wrote

I had a huge shock the first winter too! I lived in an old ass building with high ceilings. I was paying $400+ a month to heat a one bedroom apartment. I have electric heat in my current place but it's included in my rent thank GOD

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BigfootTundra t1_iz72lxz wrote

The electricity market is very complicated. The electricity used by your home likely isn’t from the closest power plant. I live a few miles from the nuclear plant in Limerick and I’d bet most of my electricity doesn’t even come from there.

But to answer your question, this email is likely related to an increase in energy prices across the board.

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Caution999 t1_iz7f6ky wrote

At least the mean tweets are gone! I’m cooking up some crickets tonight for dinner, too! Mm mm! Things are getting easier for the working class!

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RipTide275 t1_iz5k4lj wrote

Keep voting for Dems

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Groan_Of_Wind t1_iz5lu42 wrote

Keep being butthurt.

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RipTide275 t1_iz5n9qv wrote

It’s gonna get cold for you in Mommy’s basement

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YamPsychological9471 t1_iz5xzvd wrote

Meanwhile, the entire state of Texas freezes each year because winterizing gas well heads threatens someone’s profit margin.

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RipTide275 t1_iz65zhm wrote

Doesn’t happen every year, c’mon stop exaggerating

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Groan_Of_Wind t1_iz710bm wrote

your butthurt happens every day since trump lost, and it shows.
go cry more.

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qrpc t1_iz5ryts wrote

Rising prices of fracked gas drive electricity prices higher and republicans conclude that more dependence on fossil fuels, more profits for the fracked gas industry, and more pollution is the solution. What a bunch of mental giants.

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RipTide275 t1_iz5tlkw wrote

So why are energy prices going to be 40% or so higher this winter? Can’t wait to hear this twist.

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qrpc t1_iz5wts9 wrote

Supply and demand.

Over production during the fracking boom drove fracked gas prices down.

That drove our electric generation to shift from less than one percent gas to more than 50% gas. In addition, our legislature has passed billions worth of subsidies to companies that buy gas. When demand increases, prices increase.

Short-sighted republicans want us to subsidize more gas production through lax regulation, tax breaks, etc. Aside from the idiocy of subsidizing both the supply and demand side of the same industry, this would just start the boom-and-bust cycle all over again.

Sane people want to invest in alternatives like wind and solar so we are less dependent on dirty fossil fuels in the first place.

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RipTide275 t1_iz5yysz wrote

Natural gas should be cheap and plentiful and also the cleanest of all the fossil fuels. Democratic policies of increasing taxes, increasing regulations(costs to the businesses) and telling the companies they are ending the industry all contribute to higher costs and prices to the consumers. It’s just a fact twist it all you want. Supply and demand, there is a tremendous supply, always has been. Demand, the same people want to be warm this year as when Trump was president. Dem policies drive prices up, deal with it

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Hopeful_Scholar398 t1_iz60tf1 wrote

So we have the choice of not taxes huge profitable industries and having the working class pick up the slack or; companies pay there fair share and rake us over the price because they no longer have to pay taxes? Sounds like the industry can't manage it's lust for profit of a necessary service. Nationalize it.

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qrpc t1_iz6582k wrote

>cleanest of all the fossil fuels.

I guess you think putting a little less sewage in our water just as good as clean water too.

> Democratic policies of increasing taxes,

In case you missed it, the Democrats haven't been in charge of our state legislature since 1993.

>telling the companies they are ending the industry

Funny how more PA coal plants announced their closure during Trump's term than the 8-years Obama was President.

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YamPsychological9471 t1_iz6dmlo wrote

You’re ignoring a global pandemic that impacted supply chains and economies across the world. You’re also ignoring Russia’s shenanigans and it’s impact on oil prices.

Natural gas continues to be extracted at the highest rates in PA. Wolf also just pushed out a tax package to encourage more gas extraction. We don’t even tax the gas companies in PA as far as I know lol.

EDIT: Actually, I forgot about the Act-13 impact fees that unconventional gas wells pay out. So there is that.

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