Time for energy company choice nears

Energy choice becomes effective in the Philadelphia region on Jan. 1.  Consumers can save money by choosing wisely but it’s not mandatory that they make a switch.PECO will still maintain the wires and transport the electricity into homes, but Pennsylvania Consumer Advocate Sonny Popowsky said there are more than a dozen companies offering better rates to those who want to switch providers.”Also, some of these suppliers are offering green products or renewable resources where you can buy a certain type of electricity that may be a little more expensive than the traditional power but you can still get some of those for less than PECO’s charging,” he said.Popowsky said consumers don’t have to worry about switching energy providers if something goes wrong.”If a tree falls on a line, you’ll still call PECO so that portion of the service is still provided by PECO as it always has been,” said Popowsky.Popowsky said the Office of Consumer Advocate has reviewed all the offers and has price comparisons on its website.  Consumers can switch at any time if they don’t like the power provider, but some deals come with fees for early termination. For more, visit the Consumer Advocate’s web site.