Electricity Supply Frequently Asked Questions

You are not changing utilities. You call the same company you call today, at the same number printed on your bill. Your utility still owns the poles, the wires and the meter, and still sends the crew. A supplier never touches any of that.

No. Nothing is disconnected and nothing is installed. Your utility keeps delivering the electricity over the same wires it always has. The switch happens on paper between your utility and the supplier, and it takes effect on your next meter read.

None of those. There is no equipment, no technician visit, and nothing added to your home. This is a supply rate change on your existing account.

No. Calling lets you hear the fixed-rate options currently available for your utility, with the rate and the term read to you before anything happens. If the numbers do not make sense for you, you say no — and nothing changes on your account.

Typically only a few minutes. The agent checks the current fixed-rate offers for your utility, reads you the rate and the term, and answers your questions. Having a recent electric bill nearby makes it faster, but it is not required.

One line. Your bill has a delivery portion and a supply portion. Delivery stays with your utility and does not change. The supply rate is the part you are allowed to shop, and that is the part a fixed twelve-month rate locks.

Because supply offers move, and they differ by utility and by service address. Publishing a number here would mean showing you a rate that may not exist by the time you read it. A licensed agent pulls the current fixed offers for your specific utility while you are on the phone and reads them to you before you agree to anything.

In most cases, no. Your utility keeps billing you and the supply charge appears as a line on the same bill you already receive. Some suppliers in some markets bill separately, and the agent tells you which arrangement applies before you agree to anything.

Then you keep paying your fixed rate and you do not get the benefit of that drop. That is the honest trade. A fixed rate is not a bet on which direction the default rate moves — it is a number that cannot move for twelve months regardless of which way it goes. What you are buying is certainty.

The contract states what the rate rolls into when the term ends, and the agent states it on the call before you agree. At the end of the term you are free to shop again, sign another fixed term, or return to your utility's default rate.

No. Every enrollment has to be confirmed by you through a recorded third-party verification, handled by an independent company and not by the agent who took your call. If you do not confirm, nothing happens.

Your utility does not charge you to change suppliers. Fixed-rate contracts can carry an early cancellation fee if you leave before the term ends. The agent states that fee on the call before you agree, and it appears in the contract you receive.

Tell the supplier. A move is a standard reason to end a term, and how it is handled is written into the contract you receive. Ask the agent on the call if you expect to move inside the next year.