Basic service pricing
Residential and small commercial and industrial (C&I) basic service customers have 2 pricing options:
- a 6-month fixed‑price option, where the price remains constant for 6 months, and
- a monthly pricing option, where the price changes each month.
The electric companies place residential and small C&I basic service customers on the 6-month fixed-price option. If you want a monthly pricing option contact your electric company.
Medium and large C&I basic service customers have 2 pricing options:
- a monthly pricing option, where the price changes each month, and
- a 3-month fixed‑price option, where the price remains constant for 3 months.
The electric companies place medium and large C&I basic service customers on the monthly pricing option. If you want a 3-month pricing option contact your electric company.
Additional Resources
Basic service costs
Basic service prices have 3 cost components:
- supply costs;
- renewable portfolio standards (RPS) compliance costs; and
- administrative costs.
Your electric company collects these costs through basic service prices. Basic service is a commodity purchased on the open market. The cost of basic service is then passed on to customers. Your electric company does not make any profit from the basic service procurement.
Supply Costs
The procurement of basic service supply is the largest component of basic service costs. Below is more information about the competitive solicitations:
| customer type | number of competitive solicitations | amount procured in each solicitation | calculation of fixed price |
|---|---|---|---|
| residential and small C&I | 2 times per year | 50% of the required supply for a 12-month period | 6-month fixed price is the weighted average of the 6 monthly prices |
| medium and large C&I | 4 times per year | 100% of the required supply for a 3-month period | 3-month fixed price is the weighted average of the 3 monthly prices |
Generally, your electric company selects the supplier(s) who submits the lowest bids in each solicitation. The DPU reviews the results of each basic service solicitation to ensure that they were the product of a sufficiently competitive process.
RPS Compliance Costs
Basic service must meet the Commonwealth’s RPS. The RPS establishes the least amount of renewable energy resources that the electric companies must include in their electric supply products. Basic service includes a level of renewable energy resources that meets, but does not exceed, the RPS.
Administrative Costs
A small component of your basic service price includes the administrative costs your electric company incurs in procuring basic service.