Residential heating customers who call Energetix to inquire if they are eligible to switch are told about an even better discounted fixed-rate offer for RH customers - 7.211 cents per kWh - that is not advertised on the Energetix website.
"In an effort to avoid total customer confusion we do not post rates for each and every residential service class," said Sharon Burns, the marketing communications manager for Energetix, which is the retail marketing arm of Rochester Gas & Electric Co.
The discounts could signal a new intensified competition for Peco's 1.6 million customers. Since market rates were introduced a year ago, dozens of suppliers have offered a dizzying array of plans, and more than 400,000 customers have switched, according to the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC).
Until now, residential heating customers have had no incentive to switch because nobody could compete with Peco's discounted RH rate.
But under orders from the PUC to jettison its discounted pricing, Peco this year began phasing out its two-tiered heating rate, a legacy of an era when utilities promoted all-electric households. The discount was reduced by half on Jan. 1, and it will be phased out completely by the end of 2012.
Many RH customers who installed heat pumps in recent years complained that the PUC was pulling the rug out from under them. Peco has suggested that customers wait and see if alternative suppliers enter the market.
That day appears to have arrived. The Energetix fixed-rate offer of 7.211 cents per kWh includes a $35 penalty if the contract is canceled before the end of its 12-month term. But Energetix is also paying new customers a $25 bonus. So customers are at risk for $10.
