The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission touts its Electric Choice Standard Offer program, providing consumers the opportunity to enroll into the program to potentially save money on their electricity bills.
Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission
Contact: Robin Tilley
HARRISBURG – The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) today reminds consumers that saving money on electricity can be as simple as enrolling in the Commission’s Electric Choice Standard Offer Program. The program was recognized last week by Gov. Tom Corbett as the year’s “Best Customer Service Innovation” at the 2014 Innovation Expo.
“The Standard Offer Program provides a voluntary, innovative approach to introducing non-shopping customers to the competitive marketplace,” said PUC Chairman Robert F. Powelson, who led the Innovation Expo presentation on the program before a panel of judges July 22. “In our view, the Standard Offer Program is a ‘win-win-win’ for electric consumers, competitive suppliers and the Commonwealth. This is why more than 200,000 electric customers in Pennsylvania have found the Standard Offer to be anything but standard.”
The program was launched in August 2013 to offer non-shopping electric customers a simple way to enter the competitive market with guaranteed, immediate savings. The launch of the Standard Offer Program is projected to have saved Pennsylvania residential and small-business customers nearly $19 million in annual savings since its inception.
The Standard Offer Program is geared toward customers who are utilizing their default supply – or paying their utility for electric generation, rather than a competitive supplier. Customers receive a 7 percent discount off the utility’s generation rate, or price to compare, at the time of enrollment, for 12 months at a fixed rate. The agreement includes no enrollment or cancellation fees, so customers can switch or cancel at any time without penalty.
To take advantage of the Standard Offer Program, customers can call their utility and ask about the plan. The utility will explain the offer and transfer the customer to one of its participating suppliers, randomly chosen, who will help enroll the customer in the program. The choice of supplier makes no difference in electric service or contract terms. The utility will still distribute the electricity to the customer’s home, restore outages and send monthly bills.
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