Penelec customers get welcome news to start the month, with the utility dropping residential electricity rates by about 6.5 percent. The quarterly adjustment will decrease the average residential customer’s monthly bill from $105.04 to $98.23, based on 750 kilowatt hours used.
Penelec credits abundant supplies of electricity and relatively mild weather, as well as the low price of natural gas.
Not all of the news is good. While customers may be celebrating, the lower demand for electricity is painful for Indiana County’s beleaguered coal-fired power plants.
The new Penelec “rate to compare”, which reflects the cost of generating energy, is 5.88 cents per kilowatt hours, down from 6.74 cents. The rate for the other half of a customer’s bill, a measure of the cost of transmission of electricity is unchanged.
