Source: Power Choice PA

When Pennsylvanians shop for groceries, cell phone plans or insurance, they expect to have choices. They compare prices, weigh features and decide what provides the best value for their families.

Electricity should be no different.

At the end of the day, that is what Pennsylvania’s competitive electricity market is about: giving consumers control. 

Consumers can choose what matters most to them — whether that is price, predictability, contract length or other features. Some consumers want electricity generated from renewable or sustainable sources. No matter what they want, in a truly competitive market, they can select an electricity supplier and a plan that matches their priorities instead of having a monopoly utility make that choice for them.

There is no single electricity plan that is right for every Pennsylvanian. Competition recognizes that reality … and then lets consumers decide what they want — not just at the beginning of a contract, but for the customer’s entire relationship with the supplier.

Competition gives Pennsylvanians something that a monopoly system cannot: the ability to take their business elsewhere. If a customer finds a better price, a better product or a plan that more closely reflects their values and priorities, they can make a different choice, anytime they want to.

That is a powerful form of consumer protection — and an important incentive for suppliers to continually improve and win a customer’s business.

It also encourages suppliers to innovate.

When suppliers have to compete for customers, they have an incentive to offer more than simply electricity. They must develop products and services that provide consumers with better value and a better experience.

That can include plans that help customers establish a household budget, monitor electricity usage, receive alerts, improve energy efficiency or take advantage of different pricing structures. Suppliers can differentiate themselves through pricing, energy sources, contract terms, customer service and other features.

That is what competition does in virtually every other part of the economy: it pushes companies to focus on customers to try to keep them.

Pennsylvania already has the framework to make that choice possible. Consumers can use PAPowerSwitch to compare competitive electricity offers available in their area. The utility’s Price to Compare (PTC) provides a benchmark against which those offers can be evaluated.

The Price to Compare should remain exactly that — a benchmark, not the centerpiece of the electricity marketplace.

Policymakers should be cautious about changes that make the default utility option more dominant or that effectively make decisions on behalf of consumers. The goal should instead be to ensure that shoppers have strong consumer protections, transparent information and an easy way to compare plans so they remain fully in control.

Ultimately, competitive electricity markets are about more than the price of a kilowatt-hour. They are about giving consumers control over price, value, energy sources, plan structure and the services that come with their electricity for the entire duration of the relationship.

Pennsylvanians should have the power to decide which electricity plan best meets their needs.

That is the value of competition — and it is a choice worth protecting.