Pennsylvania electricity rates & utilities
We track 7 Pennsylvania utilities and the rate cases at the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission. You can shop your electricity supplier here — so the bill audit applies.
How electricity rates work in Pennsylvania
Your electric bill has two parts. The first is delivery (also called distribution) — getting the power to your home over the wires. That part is a regulated monopoly: only your local utility does it, and the PA PUC sets what it can charge.
The second part is generation (supply) — the electricity itself. Since 1996, Pennsylvania has had retail choice, so you can buy that part from a competitive supplier, or do nothing and take your utility's default rate, called the Price to Compare. The Price to Compare resets every quarter (March, June, September, December).
So when people say their 'rate went up,' it's usually either a delivery-rate case at the PUC or a quarterly change in the Price to Compare — and if you're on a third-party supplier, your rate is whatever you signed up for, which may be higher.
What you can do: Compare your supplier's rate to your utility's Price to Compare. If you're paying more, you can drop the supplier and return to the utility rate — usually within 1–2 billing cycles.
Who's who on your Pennsylvania electric bill
Four different players decide what you pay. Here's each one, in plain English:
Your utility — the "distributor"
The company that owns the poles and wires and physically delivers power to your home — the name on your bill (in Pennsylvania, one of the utilities listed below, like Duquesne Light). This part is a regulated monopoly: only it delivers in your area, and the PA PUC sets what it can charge for delivery. You can't shop the delivery part.
Generation — the "supply"
The electricity itself (also called supply or generation). You can buy it from your utility's default rate — the Price to Compare — or from a competing third-party supplier. It's the identical electricity either way; only the price differs.
PJM — the "grid operator"
The independent operator that runs the regional high-voltage grid for Pennsylvania and 12 other states. It's like air-traffic control for electricity — it keeps enough power flowing across the whole region. Its wholesale costs flow through your utility into your bill. (More below.)
The PA PUC — the "regulator"
The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission is the state agency that reviews and approves utility rate increases. When a utility wants to charge more, it files a "rate case" here — which is exactly what we track.
Putting it together: when you turn on a light in Pennsylvania, the electricity was produced by power plants, routed across the region by PJM, and delivered to your house over Duquesne Light's wires (your distributor). Your bill charges you for both the supply (the electricity) and the delivery (the wires). If you signed up with a third-party supplier, they set the supply price; if not, you pay your utility's Price to Compare. The PA PUC approves the delivery rates and oversees the default supply rate.
What is "PJM" and its "capacity market"? (plain English)
PJM is the independent operator that runs the high-voltage power grid for 13 states and Washington, D.C. — including yours. Think of it as air-traffic control for electricity: it doesn't own power plants or your wires, but it makes sure enough electricity is flowing across the whole region every second of the day. The wholesale costs PJM sets get passed through your utility into your bill.
The capacity market is a separate, once-a-year auction PJM runs. Instead of paying for electricity you use, it pays power plants just to promise they'll be ready on the few hottest or coldest days when demand peaks. That promise is called "capacity." It's like paying a backup generator a retainer to stay on standby — you pay even in months you never need it.
Why it matters now: when PJM expects demand to jump, those standby payments spike. Demand is jumping largely because of data centers, and PJM's recent capacity auctions hit record highs three times in a row. Utilities pass that cost straight to customers — which is a big reason bills across all five states we cover are rising. Sources: PJM; PJM Independent Market Monitor (Monitoring Analytics).
Pennsylvania electricity prices over time
The average Pennsylvania residential electricity price went from 13.8¢/kWh in 2019 to 19.3¢/kWh in 2025 — up 40%.
Pennsylvania utilities we cover
- Duquesne Light
Price to Compare · 12.461¢/kWh
- Met-Ed (FirstEnergy)
Price to Compare · 9.842¢/kWh
- PECO Energy
Price to Compare · 10.789¢/kWh
- Penelec (FirstEnergy)
Price to Compare · 9.317¢/kWh
- Penn Power (FirstEnergy)
Price to Compare · 11.024¢/kWh
- PPL Electric Utilities
Price to Compare · 13.147¢/kWh
- West Penn Power (FirstEnergy)
Price to Compare · 8.953¢/kWh
Coverage note: We track Pennsylvania's seven major investor-owned utilities. We don't cover small municipal or cooperative electric utilities (for example Pike County Light & Power, Citizens' Electric, Wellsboro Electric, or UGI's electric service), which set rates differently.
Where to find your supply rate on a Pennsylvania bill
Your utility's standard rate is the Price to Compare. On your bill, find the supply / generation rate in ¢/kWh and compare it to that — if a supplier charges more, you're overpaying. Here's the exact line to look for:
Where is this on my bill?
On your bill, find the supply rate in ¢/kWh. Your utility's standard rate is the “Price to Compare.” If your supplier charges more than that, you're overpaying.
Rate cases & increases
No active rate cases in our tracker for Pennsylvania right now. We monitor the PA PUC dockets — get an alert when one is filed.