Electric lines from a power station on Lake Road in Avon Lake, Ohio, are set against a colorful sunset, Friday, Nov. 11, 2005. Bills are going up again Sept. 1, 2022, for some Lehigh Valley residents who do not shop around for an electricity generator.Marvin Fong file photo | For The Plain Dealer
Bills are going up again for customers of Lehigh Valley utility provider Met-Ed who do not shop around for an electricity generator.
The new rates effective Sept. 1 apply to the default service price for electricity generation, or what’s known as the price to compare. This price accounts, on average, for about 40 to 60% of a customer’s total bill, according to the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission.
Met-Ed does not generate its own electricity but purchases power on behalf of customers who do not actively select their own supplier. The company passes the supply rate along to customers and doesn’t profit off that, instead making its money off charges for transmitting the electricity, said Todd Meyers, spokesman for the FirstEnergy Corp. company.
Customers can visit PAPowerSwitch.com to find electric generation supply rates they can compare to what they’re paying through Met-Ed. Customers who do shop for a different rate should make sure they understand the terms of any contract they sign, including whether rates are variable or fixed.
The state PUC on Wednesday announced price-to-compare rate hikes for non-shopping customers of PECO Energy, along with the state’s four FirstEnergy companies — Met-Ed, Penelec, Penn Power and West Penn Power. These companies reset their energy on a quarterly basis. PPL Electric Utilities also serves the Lehigh Valley but is not changing its rates Sept. 1, after last raising its price-to-compare rates June 1 by 38.3%.
Met-Ed raised its price to compare on June 1 by 16.3% from 6.83 to 7.94 cents per kilowatt-hour for residential customers. The Sept. 1 hike will further raise the residential default service price by 18.4%, from 7.94 to 9.4 cents per kWh.
For a typical residential customer using 750 kilowatt-hours per month, the overall bill will increase $10.96 from $105.72 to $116.68, or 10.4%, according to Met-Ed’s Meyers.
He points to rising natural gas costs as the reason behind the rise in prices for electricity generation, while noting that previous purchase agreements secured by Met-Ed for power dated to before or during the coronavirus pandemic when lower demand drove down energy costs.
“So now those contracts have rolled off and we’re entering new contracts,” Meyers said.
The state PUC says customers struggling with their bills, including past-due balances, can pursue help through utility-run Customer Assistance Programs, national programs like the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) and the Emergency Rental Assistance Program, plus various hardship fund programs operated by utilities and non-profit organizations.
Energy saving tips that can help lower bills, according to the PUC, include:
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Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com.
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