Deferral Option

If you're a homeowner, renter, mid-sized business, or small business that uses a lot of electricity, you now have another option for spreading out higher electricity supply prices in 2010.

Our new Deferral Option, approved by the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, is available to eligible customers who sign up through Dec. 15, 2009.



How it works
When you sign up, you defer any portion of the 2010 price increase above 25 percent. In 2011, you pay the full amount of your electric bill. You also pay the deferred charges back, plus 6 percent interest.

Deferred amounts will appear as a credit on your electric bill in 2010. Repayments will appear as a charge on your electric bill in 2011. The amount of your credits and charges will depend on your rate schedule and average monthly electricity use.

Because you will repay deferred amounts with interest, your total payments will be slightly more if you enroll in the deferral option.

To see what those amounts would be, click here.


Eligibility
All residential customers are eligible, except those in our special OnTrack payment program. Businesses on rate schedules GS-3, GH-1 and GH-2 are eligible. In addition, any GS1 customer expected to see 2010 bill increases of more than 25 percent is eligible. Most GS-1 customers will see increases of less than 25 percent and as a result are not eligible for the deferral option.


About 2010 prices
Electricity prices will increase after rate caps on the generation portion of your electric bill expire Dec. 31, 2009. These rate caps have been in place for more than a decade while the cost to generate electricity has risen. We estimate that the average residential customer could see an increase of about 30 percent in 2010.

PPL Electric Utilities does not generate electricity, does not profit from the generation charges on your bill and will not profit from increased price you pay in 2010. Instead, we buy electricity from suppliers, awarding contracts to the lowest bidders. We pass their prices through to you unless you choose an alternative electricity supplier. If you choose another supplier, you pay that supplier's charge.

Eligible customers may enroll in the deferral option even if they choose an alternative electricity supplier for 2010.


More information
To learn more about the deferral option, click on one of the links on this page, or call us at 1-866-597-2010 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.