Delmarva Power customers in Maryland can save big money on their electric bills this summer as competitive energy companies have started offering rates in the area. The default price to compare rose by 11% for Delmarva residential customers on June 1. The price to compare is the electric rate Delmarva customers pay for power supply who have not chosen an alternative supplier. The current Delmarva price to compare rate is 9.28 cents.
Consumers who shop and compare competitive electric rates will find prices below 8 cents (see below). While competitive energy companies are offering discounted electric rates in the area, Delmarva will continue to deliver power to their customers no matter which energy company a consumer chooses to supply them with power. Delmarva also continues to service power outages and send the monthly electric bill to its customers. In short, just because you choose to buy cheaper power does not mean that you will no longer be a Delmarva customer.
Delmarva remains a regulated utility company by the Maryland Public Service Commission. They make money from the regulated delivery charges found on the Delmarva bill and not the supply charges, which is now open for competition. The money they collect from their default supply rates is transferred over to competitive energy companies who have auctioned to service default paying customers.
Maryland electric choice simply gives consumers the ability to shop for cheaper electric rates so that they can pay less money on their monthly power bills.