If you think you are paying more for electricity than ever before, you are correct.
PECO’s residential electric rates will increase this year by at least 10% thanks to recent approvals in Harrisburg. It is quite possible that summer rates in 2025 will break $0.20 per kilowatt hour.
If you think rates are going to decrease, you are not correct.
Supply and Demand
The balance between supply and demand today for electricity is not in good shape. Increasing electric demand is real. We are using more electricity for transportation, entertainment, and commerce. At the same time, a significant number of older, less efficient electric generators, typically coal fired plants, are scheduled to shut down over the next five years.
Worse yet, despite lower costs and no pollution, solar and wind are not getting fair access to our market. The incumbent coal and gas generators are fighting to block renewable energy sources from getting traction. Coal and gas are no longer cheaper than solar power. But the incumbents are changing the rules to keep cleaner and cheaper energy away from your home. They want you to stick with their dirty and expensive fuel for as long as possible. But you have a choice. You can stop paying them and invest in your own home and community.
Renewable energy sources accounted for more than 90% of new electric generation added in the United States in 2024. Solar power alone represented 81% of that new generation. Math moves the world. Solar energy will continue to grow and grow and grow. It is no longer ‘alternative’. It is simply better.
Still politics, power, and greed matter here in Pennsylvania where oil and gas interests are making their final stand. They have a strong ally in the Public Utilities Commission that just approved the most recent 10% rate increase in December 2024. PJM, the market maker for wholesale electricity, is controlled by the incumbents who know that change means their way of business must end.
All is not lost though. Consumers can help themselves. You have options. You have a choice.
You can continue to do nothing and stay with PECO.
Or you can make your own clean energy from the sun, safely and quietly.
The choice is yours.
