What will Change

Tentative homeowners may wonder exactly what’s going to change about their electricity supply if they switch to a new retailer. The short answer is: not much. The slightly longer answer is that you’ll save money on your monthly bill. There’s nothing new to install and you won’t even get a separate bill.

To answer a little more thoroughly, we go into some details about the deregulated electricity market.

How Does Deregulation Work?

The deregulated electricity market can be a little confusing, since it separates processes that have historically been together. The key processes in getting energy where it needs to be are generation, transmission, and distribution:

• Generation is the production of electricity from raw materials. These materials might be non-renewable, like fossil fuels, or they might be naturally occurring, like sun and wind.
• Transmission is the intermediate step in which large quantities of energy move from the generator to the electrical grid.
• Distribution is the last stage, in which electricity is sent to homes and businesses through the wires you see everywhere.

The reason that you can change your electricity provider with such a low impact is that distribution remains in the hands of your local utility. The changes all occur behind the scenes, in the generation and transmission phases.

What If I Lose Power?

If your power goes out, you follow the same procedure you always did. Your local utility is still responsible for fixing downed power lines and resolving other disruptions to service.

Your utility company may and will not discriminate against you if you start buying electricity from another company? Keep in mind that even in a small neighborhood, different households may all have different plans.

What Will My Bill Look Like?

Your bill will look a whole lot like it used to–except you’ll be paying less money for electricity. You’ll still receive the bill from the utility company responsible for power distribution. The only difference on your bill will be in the section where you’re billed for electricity, in which you’ll see a new rate coming from your new provider.

The electricity retailers and utility companies take care of their accounting behind the scenes; there’s not much left for you to do but enjoy your savings.