How to Read Your PECO Bill
PECO delivers electricity and natural gas across Philadelphia and its surrounding counties regardless of who supplies the actual energy — Pennsylvania is a deregulated market, so you can shop for a competitive generation supplier and compare their rate to PECO's published "Price to Compare." Your bill separates generation, delivery, and PECO's fixed charges and taxes.
Who PECO is on your bill
PECO Energy is the regulated utility that delivers electricity and natural gas to Philadelphia and the surrounding counties of Bucks, Chester, Delaware, and Montgomery — roughly 1.6 million electric customers and 532,000 gas customers. PECO owns and maintains the poles, wires, meters, and gas lines in that territory, and it's who you'd call for an outage or a gas leak no matter who supplies your energy.
Generation vs. delivery charges
Pennsylvania deregulated its retail electric (and later gas) markets, so a PECO bill separates the shoppable and non-shoppable pieces. Generation is the cost of the electricity or gas itself; delivery is PECO's regulated charge for getting it to you over its own infrastructure. Delivery is the same regardless of who supplies your generation — it's the one part of the bill that doesn't change when you switch suppliers.
The "Price to Compare" line
One thing that's distinctive to Pennsylvania bills, including PECO's, is the "Price to Compare" (PTC) — PECO's own default generation rate, shown specifically so customers have a benchmark against offers from competitive Electric Generation Suppliers (EGS) or, for gas, Natural Gas Suppliers (NGS). If you haven't shopped, you're simply paying PECO's Price to Compare for generation. Pennsylvania runs a state comparison tool, PAPowerSwitch, where residents can look up licensed suppliers operating in PECO's territory.
Fixed charges and taxes
Below generation and delivery, expect a customer charge that applies every billing period regardless of usage, along with state and local taxes and any applicable riders for programs like low-income assistance or infrastructure recovery. These are usually a modest share of the total but worth checking if your bill feels off relative to your usage.
Usage history and reading your meter data
PECO bills typically show your usage for the billing period alongside recent months or the same month last year, which is the quickest way to separate a usage-driven bill increase (a hot or cold month) from a rate-driven one (a generation or delivery rate change). PECO's online account also offers more granular usage data if the printed bill's summary isn't detailed enough.
Rate classes and account identifiers
PECO, like other Pennsylvania utilities, bills residential and commercial customers under different rate classes, which determine how delivery and generation charges are structured. Commercial accounts, or ones with multiple metered locations, may also show additional identifiers beyond the basic account number. If you're ever requesting a quote from a competitive supplier, having your account number and rate class on hand makes the process faster.
Frequently asked questions
What is the "Price to Compare" on my PECO bill?
It's PECO's own default generation rate, expressed per kWh or per therm, that the state requires PECO to publish so you can compare it against offers from competitive suppliers. If a supplier's rate is lower than the Price to Compare, switching could lower your generation charge.
Does PECO still deliver my electricity if I switch suppliers?
Yes. PECO remains responsible for delivery, meter reading, and outage response regardless of which generation supplier you choose — switching only changes who supplies the electricity itself and what you pay for it.
Does PECO serve both electric and gas customers?
Yes, PECO serves both electric and natural gas customers across Philadelphia and the surrounding counties, so depending on your service you may see one or both types of charges on your bill.
See this on your own bill
Upload your PECO bill and Certo reads it for you — a free bill health score, a plain-English breakdown, and whether your generation rate is competitive.
Want it tracked automatically every month?
Plus and Pro track bill history, flag rate hikes and unusual usage, and (on Pro) build a custom efficiency checklist and savings tracker — so you're not re-checking this by hand.