Electric Companies

The Importance of Electricity

One of the first utilities that most people will make sure is in their new home and out of their name on the old home is their electricity service.  Yes, these are two separate transactions most of the time.  You need to disconnect your electricity at the old place and put in a connection order for electricity at the new place.  Don’t forget to shut off the old electricity and get it out of your name unless you like paying two electricity bills. In any event unless you like sitting in a dark, non-temperature controlled room you need to make sure contacting your electric company is at the top of your utility connection checklist.

Top 5 Ways to Find Your Electric Company

1. Ask your realtor or landlord for the name and phone number of the electricity company for your new home.
2. Ask a neighbor, friend, or family member who their provider is if they live in your new neighborhood.
3. Google It. Another great idea is to put your zipcode into Google followed by a space and the words ‘electric company’.
4. Social Media. Use Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn or any of your other favorite social media sites and ask your network of friends to help you out (especially in deregulated energy States).
5. The Yellow Pages. Yes, some people actually do still use the phone book.

Deregulation of Energy

Several States in the U.S. have deregulated their energy services meaning they provide their residents with a choice in residential electricity providers. This is great for the consumer most of the time as it allows you to shop for the best price per kilowatt hour for your electricity. Here is a quick map that shows which States have deregulated energy:

If your State does not offer deregulated energy, you may want to contact your State representative and rally for it as it can make a big difference in your monthly utility bill.

Top 3 Questions for Deregulated Electricity Consumers

1. Does your State have a utility commission that tracks all of the electricity rates available to your home? Usually they do and this can save you a bunch of time in finding the lowest rate.
2. Does your State have any rules regarding how frequently you can switch electricity providers in the event that another provider is offering a lower rate?
3. Do all electricity providers record the rates the same way (there are additional charges other than just a kilowatt per hour cost)? Make sure you evaluate all of the costs.

If you only have one electric company to choose from, don’t feel bad as that is the case in most of the U.S. In any event there are still some questions you need to ask your electricity provider.

Top 3 Questions for All Electricity Providers

1. Do you offer a budget billing plan so that my monthly bill will always be the same?
2. What forms of payment do you accept?
3. Can I setup an auto bill payment for my electricity (EFT transaction)?

Top 10 Energy Companies in the U.S. by Revenue

1. Exelon : $18,859 million
2. Southern : $17,127 million
3. FPL Group : $16,410 million
4. Dominion Resources : $16,290 million
5. PG&E Corp. : $14,628 million
6. Edison International : $14,112 million
7. Public Service Enterprise Group : $13,741 million
8. Consolidated Edison : $13,726 million
9. FirstEnergy : $13,627 million
10. Duke Energy : $13,212 million