Three utility types in Pennsylvania
Pick the path that matches your address
75% of PA residential customers are served by just three IOUs (PPL, PECO, Duquesne). The four FirstEnergy companies cover 60% of PA's land area but only about 35% of customers. Co-ops and munis fill the rural and borough gaps.
Investor-owned utilities
7 IOUs serve roughly 5.5 million homes and businesses across PA. Retail choice applies.
Rural electric co-ops
14 member-owned RECs serve roughly 230,000 PA rural meters. No retail choice.
Municipal electric
35 boroughs and cities own their distribution system. Rates often 10 to 25% below IOU.
Investor-owned utilities (IOUs)
The 7 PA electric distribution companies
Every PA EDC owns the wires that bring power to your address, and is regulated by the PA Public Utility Commission. Click a card for customer service, outage line and service area.
Investor-owned · IOU
PPL Electric Utilities
PPL Corporation (NYSE: PPL)
29 central and eastern PA counties (Allentown, Harrisburg, Lancaster, Scranton, Wilkes-Barre).
Price-to-Compare resets every 1 June and 1 December.
Investor-owned · IOU
PECO Energy Co
Exelon Corporation
5 southeast PA counties (Philadelphia, Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, York).
Also delivers natural gas in 4 SE PA counties.
Investor-owned · IOU
Duquesne Light Co
DQE Holdings
Allegheny and Beaver counties (Pittsburgh metro).
Smallest IOU territory, densest grid.
Investor-owned · IOU
Met-Ed
Metropolitan Edison · FirstEnergy
Berks, Lebanon, Schuylkill, parts of Lancaster, Adams, York, Cumberland and Dauphin counties.
Profile page coming soon.
Investor-owned · IOU
Penelec
Pennsylvania Electric · FirstEnergy
About 38 counties in north and west-central PA (Erie, State College, Johnstown, Williamsport).
Profile page coming soon.
Investor-owned · IOU
Penn Power
Pennsylvania Power · FirstEnergy
Lawrence, Mercer, Beaver, Butler and Armstrong counties (New Castle area).
Walk-in office in New Castle.
Investor-owned · IOU
West Penn Power
FirstEnergy
24 southwest PA counties (Greensburg, Washington, Uniontown, Indiana, Somerset).
Walk-in office in Greensburg.
The four FirstEnergy companies (Met-Ed, Penelec, Penn Power, West Penn) share back-office systems and an outage line, but each has its own regulated rate base and PUC tariff.
Rural electric cooperatives
14 PA co-ops, member-owned and not-for-profit
Pennsylvania's 14 rural electric cooperatives serve roughly 230,000 meters across 41 mostly rural counties, mainly in territory that the IOUs found uneconomic to electrify in the 1930s. Co-ops are owned by their members (you, if you live on their lines), governed by an elected board and operate at cost. Retail choice does not apply on co-op lines: the co-op generates or buys wholesale power and resells it to members at a single bundled rate. Generation and transmission for most PA RECs is handled by Allegheny Electric Cooperative, the statewide generation and transmission co-op.
Adams Electric Cooperative
Adams, Cumberland, Franklin, York counties.
Allegheny Electric Cooperative
Statewide generation and transmission for PA RECs.
Bedford REA
Bedford and Somerset counties.
Central Electric Cooperative
Butler, Clarion and Venango counties.
Claverack Rural Electric
Bradford, Sullivan and Susquehanna counties.
New Enterprise REC
Bedford, Blair and Huntingdon counties.
Northwestern REC
Crawford, Erie, Mercer and Warren counties.
REA Energy Cooperative
Indiana, Cambria, Armstrong, Westmoreland.
Open profile
Somerset REC
Somerset, Fayette and Westmoreland counties.
Sullivan County REC
Sullivan, Lycoming and Bradford counties.
Tri-County Rural Electric Co-op
Tioga, Bradford, Lycoming, Potter and Sullivan counties.
Open profile
United Electric Cooperative
Jefferson, Clearfield, Elk and Indiana counties.
Valley Rural Electric
Huntingdon, Mifflin, Juniata, Snyder, Fulton and Franklin counties.
Warren Electric Cooperative
Warren, Forest, McKean and Crawford counties.
Municipal electric utilities
35 PA boroughs and cities run their own electric system
From Chambersburg to Hatfield, roughly 35 Pennsylvania boroughs and small cities own and operate a municipal electric system, often dating to the 1890s or early 1900s. These munis buy wholesale power on the regional market and resell it through their own poles and meters. Municipal residents cannot shop for a competitive supplier (the borough is both your distribution and supply company), but they trade that off for lower rates: PA municipal rates average 10 to 25% below nearby IOU territories because munis do not pay shareholder dividends and skip the IOU's regulated return on capital.
The municipal trade-off is service depth: limited customer-service hours (usually weekdays only), smaller line crews for storm response and no retail-choice option. You also pay your local borough rather than a publicly listed utility.
Smethport Electric Department
Borough of Smethport (McKean County, ZIP 16749).
~1,600 residents.
Open profile
Wampum Electric Department
Borough of Wampum (Lawrence County, ZIP 16157).
~600 residents.
Open profile
Hatfield Borough Electric
Borough of Hatfield (Montgomery County).
~3,300 residents.
Mid-South Electric (Quakertown)
Quakertown Borough (Bucks County).
~9,000 residents.
Lansdale Electric
Borough of Lansdale (Montgomery County).
~17,000 residents.
Perkasie Electric
Borough of Perkasie (Bucks County).
~9,000 residents.
Chambersburg Electric
Borough of Chambersburg (Franklin County).
~21,000 residents.
Ephrata Borough Electric
Borough of Ephrata (Lancaster County).
~13,000 residents.
Showing the largest and most-asked-about of the 35 PA municipal electric systems. Most muni residents already know they have a borough utility because their bill comes from the borough hall.
CallMePower explains
How PA retail choice actually works
The 1996 Electricity Generation Customer Choice and Competition Act split your bill in two. Here is what you control and what you do not.
Supply (you can shop this)
The cost of the kWh you actually consume, billed in cents per kWh.
- • Default supply from your IOU's PTC if you do nothing. Reset every 1 June and 1 December.
- • Competitive supplier (EGS) if you shop on PA Power Switch. Same kWh, different price line.
- • Switch takes 1 to 2 billing cycles. No interruption, no rewiring.
Delivery (utility-only)
The cost of moving electricity through your utility's poles, wires and meter. Cannot be shopped.
- • Customer charge, a fixed monthly fee paid even at zero kWh.
- • Distribution, the cents-per-kWh wires charge approved by the PA PUC.
- • Transmission, universal service, energy-efficiency riders, small per-kWh adders set by the PUC and FERC.
The three regulators behind your PA bill
- 1. PA Public Utility Commission (1-800-692-7380, puc.pa.gov). Approves the IOUs' delivery rates, sets the PTC default-supply auction rules and licenses every EGS.
- 2. PJM Interconnection. The regional grid operator that dispatches generators and runs the wholesale market your supply price is built on. PJM covers 13 states plus DC.
- 3. FERC. The federal regulator that approves PJM's market rules and your utility's interstate transmission rates.
Save these
PA utility outage lines, 24/7
Always call your delivery utility for outages, never your competitive supplier. If a wire is on the ground or anyone is hurt, dial 911 first.
PPL Electric
Central and eastern PA, 29 counties
1-800-342-5775(1-800-DIAL-PPL). Text OUT to 898775.
Duquesne Light
Pittsburgh, Allegheny + Beaver counties
1-888-393-7000Press the outage option, or report via the app.
FirstEnergy (Met-Ed, Penelec, Penn Power, West Penn)
North, central and west PA
1-888-544-4877(1-888-LIGHTSS). Same line for all 4 PA FirstEnergy companies.
PA PUC consumer hotline
Billing disputes, supplier complaints, BCS
1-800-692-7380Monday to Friday 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. ET.
Co-ops and munis
Local line printed on your bill
Bill frontEach co-op and borough publishes its own 24/7 outage number. It is printed at the top of every monthly statement.
Frequently asked questions
How do I find out which utility serves my Pennsylvania address?
Can I switch to a cheaper electricity supplier in PA?
What is the Price to Compare and when does it change?
Why are municipal rates lower than IOU rates in PA?
My power is out, who do I call?
What is PJM and why does it matter?
Keep exploring PA energy
More U.S. states with energy choice
Same playbook, different utility. Pick another deregulated state to compare utilities, suppliers and switching rules.
