Pennsylvania electricity customers don’t have to be trapped by high rates

Many PPL customers who chose the company’s time-of-use rate plan were shocked when
they received recent bills – their rates had risen dramatically to nearly 64-75%. Many of
the customers had enrolled in a “time-of-use” plan to save money—and that they did—
nearly three months ago. While the savings helped at the time, PPL customers are now
finding that rates change every three months, and often new rates are announced without
adequate time to change to an alternative plan before the new rates take effect. So even if
the most vigilant customers act immediately on a rate change announcement, they can still
be stuck paying the higher rates for weeks or more than a month due to the billing cycle
and other delays.

According to an article in The Morning Call, small businesses will also see their rates
increase sharply in June. The new rate will increase to 13.03 cents per kilowatt hour from
9.76 cents. PPL said the increase is partly attributable to an under-collection of energy
costs during the first five months of the year because so many small businesses picked
alternative suppliers. That means PPL had fewer businesses to recoup its power purchase
from and has to raise prices.

PPL has about 177,000 small business customers and about 42 percent of them pay
alternative suppliers for electric generation, PPL spokesman Michael Wood said.

“If there ever was a time to explore the market, now is it for small business customers in
particular,” Wood said.

Timing is everything when buying electricity. Knowing exactly when to buy and what
your options are can be confusing in a deregulated market. At Live Energy, we have the
experience and tools necessary to leverage volatility to your advantage. Contact us today at
(877) 810-7770 and we’ll show you exactly how to make the market work for you.