Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: December, 14, 2025

The notion that Pennsylvania’s competitive power market has hurt consumers is off the mark.

First, competition has lowered the cost of power generation. In fact, Pennsylvanians who have taken advantage of the state’s competitive energy market are paying roughly the same for electricity in 2024 as they did in 1996. Moreover, consumers in 14 competitive states and jurisdictions saved an estimated $530.6 billion between 2008 and 2024, compared to pricing trends in monopoly states. 

Second, over the past decade, while competitive energy and capacity costs have remained relatively flat when considering inflation, utilities’ transmission and distribution charges have risen sharply — increases that show up directly on every customer’s electric bill. Most utilities have raised distribution charges by up to 25%, while transmission charges have climbed as much as 266%. 

Third, generators are meeting demand. PJM recently selected 51 generation projects to receive expedited interconnection approval, with 90% of the projects to be online by 2030. These shovel-ready projects — funded by companies, not ratepayers — would add 11,793 megawatts to the grid and boost our power supply. 

The main drivers of rising costs over the last decade are the ones utilities control. Now they want to control one more line item by making ratepayers pay for power plants so they can get back into generating electricity and earn a guaranteed rate of return. Pennsylvania should address what’s actually driving up customers’ bills — not dismantle a system that works. 

Kristina Montgomery
The writer is a senior director for Vistra Corp.