Educational Materials

If you are visiting our website concerning the recently advertised customer shopping information, here are several items you will need to know.

• Your price to compare, which is the current price you are billed by West Penn Power for electric generation, can be found on the first page of your monthly electric bill, in the message box labeled price to compare Message.
• Your customer number, which you will need to sign up with any third party supplier, is located on page three of your monthly electric bill, under the heading Basic Charges.
• In order to obtain a list of licensed electric suppliers, please visit papowerswitch.com.

For additional information about electric competition, call our Retail Choice Center toll-free at 1-866-592-6171.

With electric choice, consumers can select the company that generates the power they buy. Competition among electric generation suppliers may bring cost savings to consumers. To make the best choices, you'll need to understand the different services you use and pay for when you receive electricity. These services include the following:

• Generation: electricity is produced, or generated, at a power plant, also called a generating station.
• Transmission: electricity transmitted on high-voltage lines from the power plant to areas where it will be used.
• Distribution: the electric distribution company, for instance West Penn Power, uses its wires, transformers, substations, and other equipment to deliver the electricity to homes and businesses.

Some people compare this system to the way consumer products, such as clothing and furniture, move from manufacturers to customers. Power plants are like the manufacturing plants and the transmission system compares to the system of wholesalers who provide products to retailers. The distribution system would be the retail stores that deliver products to customers.

Your electric generation supplier will charge for the cost of generating electricity. The supplier also will charge you for the cost of getting the energy to our wires. West Penn Power will charge you for the cost of delivering the electricity to you, as well as other costs, such as meter reading and billing.

West Penn Power will continue to provide the same services we have in the past, except that you now will be able to decide who supplies your electric generation. We'll continue to maintain and operate our transmission and distribution system. In addition, we'll continue to supply electric generation to customers who do not choose another supplier, and we'll continue to read meters, bill customers, resolve complaints and restore service if an outage occurs.

For additional information about electric competition, call our Retail Choice Center toll-free at 1-866-592-6171.

Using different meanings for the same word can be confusing. The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PaPUC) recognized that consumers need standard terms for electric customer choice, so the organization created a Glossary of Terms about electric competition.

All electric distribution companies and electric generation suppliers operating in Pennsylvania must use the words as defined in the glossary in all statements, bills, and advertisements.

All businesses and residential customers in the West Penn Power service territories can shop for their electric generation supplier. The supplier you choose might be a firm located in Pennsylvania or elsewhere in the U.S. If you decide not to choose a supplier right away, West Penn Power will continue to supply your electricity until you do.

The following are some of the types of electric generation suppliers. 

• Aggregator - An entity, licensed by the PaPUC that purchases electric energy and takes title to electric energy as an intermediary for a large number of consumers and to bargain on their behalf for electricity and related services. The group "aggregates" or combines customers into one large customer for purposes of negotiation. It purchases the electricity as a single customer for the group.
• Electric Generation Supplier - A person or corporation, generator, broker, marketer, aggregator or any other entity licensed by the PaPUC that sells electricity to customers, using the transmission or distribution facilities of an electric distribution company.
• Investor Owned Utility - A utility company owned and operated by private investors.
• Marketer - A company, licensed by the PaPUC that buys and resells electricity, but typically does not own generating facilities.

Additional definitions can be found at the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PaPUC) website.

All electric generation suppliers must be licensed by the PaPUC, including municipalities and boroughs that want to provide service outside their municipal limits. Rural electric cooperatives must have a certificate to supply service outside their areas.

All licensed suppliers will be required to furnish a bond that will ensure their financial responsibility and the supply of electricity to satisfy their contracts. Consumers who want to know if an electric supplier is licensed can check with the PaPUC or ask West Penn Power for the PaPUC's list of licensed suppliers.

For additional information about electric competition, call the Retail Choice Center toll-free at 1-866-592-6171.

Pennsylvania’s electric competition law provides that all consumers may choose their electric generation supplier. Consumers who do not choose another electric generation supplier will continue to have their electric generation supplied by their electric distribution company - such as West Penn Power. For information on Pennsylvania’s electric competition law, please visit the PaPUC website at http://www.puc.state.pa.us.

For additional information about electric competition, call our Retail Choice Center toll-free at 1-866-592-6171.