Pennsylvania rate caps expired on December 31st, 2010, allowing home and business owners to shop around for competitive electricity rates. Note that while the source of your generation will change, your utility (PECO, PPL, etc.) will remain the same. Accordingly, when shopping for electricity you are only comparing the price of generation, which does not include distribution charges, fees and taxes from your utility company.

In order to help consumers navigate this process, the Public Utility Commission has set up PA Power Switch, an independent resource for information and a clearing house for suppliers.

While your default utility rate will fluctuate, there are ways to lock in low, fixed prices and to shop for renewable energy, often at competitive rates. For more information on 100% in-state wind generation, visit ChoosePAWind.

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Check out slides from SEI’s March 2011 event on switching home energy providers, presented by PECO Energy: Residential Choice & Smart Ideas Mar’11

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Ever wonder what the cost of energy is at this very moment? Valley Forge-based PJM (whose grid covers much of Southeastern Pennsylvania) has a new tool allowing consumers to monitor real time energy pricing, thereby encouraging the shifting of energy-intensive activities to less expensive times of the day and leveling demand and electricity prices.

Bookmark the Electricity Price Ticker now and check back at different times of the day and as the weather warms this weekend. To convert $/MWh to cents/kWh simply divide the number by 10. Remember this is only the generation portion of your total electricity price.

Click to see real-time energy pricing from PJM