Energy choice · Pennsylvania
Should you shop for an electricity supplier in Pennsylvania?
Pennsylvania has a real, usable shopping site and a clear Price to Compare — so if you're going to shop anywhere, it's the easiest place to do it right. Just lock a fixed, full-term rate and ignore the door-knockers.
Check your own bill first (2 minutes, free)
Find the supply rate on your bill and compare it to your utility's Price to Compare. If a supplier is charging more, you're overpaying for identical electricity — and you can switch back. Our audit runs on your device; we never see your numbers, and we never try to switch you.
Check my rateHow choice works in Pennsylvania
Your utility always handles delivery — the wires and the outages — and you can't shop that part. What you can shop is the supply: the electricity itself. Do nothing and you stay on the default rate, the Price to Compare (PTC). Your utility's Price to Compare resets on a set schedule — quarterly for some utilities, every six months for others — so a supplier rate that beats it today can lose the day it resets.
Pennsylvania's official, commission-run resource is PA Power Switch. It's a neutral, no-commission comparison tool — the only place worth shopping. One catch: it shows a plan's intro rate, not the variable rate it can roll into later, so read the contract's terms box before you sign.
- Pennsylvania is the cleanest state to do this in: the Price to Compare is printed right on your bill, and PA Power Switch is a genuinely usable, commission-run comparison site.
- Because the PTC resets on a schedule, the only fair comparison is a fixed supplier rate against what the PTC will *average* over the whole term — not against today's number.
Step-by-step: we wrote a full guide to using PA Power Switch — what each column means, the three contract terms to check, and the math to do before switching. Read the PA Power Switch guide →
Pennsylvania's utilities — the rate to beat
This is the Price to Compare for each Pennsylvania utility we track — the number a supplier offer has to beat. A "deal" above these is costing you money for the same electricity.
| Utility | PTC | Last reviewed |
|---|---|---|
| West Penn Power (FirstEnergy) | 8.953¢/kWh | |
| Penelec (FirstEnergy) | 9.317¢/kWh | |
| Met-Ed (FirstEnergy) | 9.842¢/kWh | |
| PECO Energy | 10.789¢/kWh | |
| Penn Power (FirstEnergy) | 11.024¢/kWh | |
| Duquesne Light | 12.461¢/kWh | |
| PPL Electric Utilities | 13.147¢/kWh |
Rates change on a schedule — always confirm the current figure on your bill or your utility's site before deciding.
Before you shop, know the traps
The same handful of tactics show up in every choice state: a teaser rate that flips to a variable one, an early-termination fee paired with a variable rate, monthly fees hiding behind a low headline rate, green-energy upsells, and "your utility sent me" pitches at the door. We break down each one — and the rule that cuts through all of them — in the main guide.
Read the full traps breakdown →Common questions
- Is it worth switching electricity suppliers in Pennsylvania?
- Pennsylvania has a real, usable shopping site and a clear Price to Compare — so if you're going to shop anywhere, it's the easiest place to do it right. Just lock a fixed, full-term rate and ignore the door-knockers. The only offer worth taking is a fixed rate, for the full term, with no monthly fee, that beats your Price to Compare — and you compare it on PA Power Switch, not off a phone or door pitch.
- What is the Price to Compare in Pennsylvania?
- It's the per-kWh rate your utility charges for default electricity supply — the PTC — and it's the number any supplier offer has to beat to actually save you money. Your utility buys that power at a wholesale auction and bills it through with no markup. Your utility's Price to Compare resets on a set schedule — quarterly for some utilities, every six months for others — so a supplier rate that beats it today can lose the day it resets.
- Will switching suppliers in Pennsylvania change my service or reliability?
- No. Your utility still owns the wires, reads your meter, and handles outages regardless of who supplies your electricity. Switching only changes the supply line on your bill, and if a supplier goes out of business you're moved back to the default rate automatically.
RateWatchdog takes no supplier commissions and never enrolls or switches anyone. See the full energy-choice guide →