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New York Electric Choice

New York consumers and businesses can choose their electricity provider!

History

Niagara Falls

New York electricity supply was regulated until 1996, when the New York State Public Service Commission began splitting the responsibilities of generating vs. delivering electricity.  Prior to that, your local utilities, Consolidated Edison (ConEd), Orange & Rockland, Central Hudson, Rochester Gas & Electric and National Grid (then known as Niagara Mohawk) were responsible for everything from paying power plants for your electricity to delivering it to your house.

In a deregulated model, consumers can choose to stay with their utility under Default Service, or can choose to purchase electricity from competitive electricity supply companies, known here as ESCOs. The utilities remain responsible for the delivery of the power and the maintenance of power lines, but the ESCO you select procures your power. For a user-friendly How to Buy Power guide, see our free E-Book.

Why Switch?

Everybody uses electricity differently - retail options allow you to find deals tailored to your needs or interests, and to take advantage of competition among retailers to get the best rates or go green. Similar to cell phone plans, where you can choose which provider and which package offers the best bang for your buck, retail choice gives you more power over your power - for more on this, check out our blog post Why Power is Like Potato Chips.

Switching

Since 2010, the number of accounts choosing something other than default service has grown rapidly. Currently, a little more than a quarter of eligible residential accounts have switched to a competitive supplier.  The switching process is very simple and can be completed entirely online. Once you have selected your electric retail provider and offer with ClearlyEnergy’s search engine, pull up your electric bill and find your account number. Complete the online switching from - the process takes about two minutes and doesn't require a credit card. Rest assured that there will be no interruption of service and no fees for switching. You will continue to receive one bill from your utility.

Choice

New York City

While growth of the residential retail market has been robust in recent years,  ClearlyEnergy is the first resource designed to help New Yorkers select retail electricity providers with an interactive search platform and a comprehensive selection of retail offers. Links to the Public Service Commission, which provides a reference lists of licensed retail energy providers, are provided on the side of this page.

By staying on default service, you are choosing a rate that fluctuates with the market and tends to peak (sometimes at very high levels) when it's particularly hot or particularly cold. ESCOs offer a variety of rate structures, many of which allow you to lock-in a fixed rate over a period of time.

There are currently almost eighty different retail providers with offers for households and individuals in New York. ConEd has the most choice with approximately sixty providers and over a hundred different offers. The other utilities, RGE, O&R, Central Hudson, NYSEG and National Grid (NIMO) have approximately forty providers competing for your business and about twice as many distinct offers. The contracts offered range from monthly variable rates to a two-year contract period, but the most common term is one-year.

Green

Almost twenty providers are offering electricity with 50% or more green power. Most of the “green” offers have 100% renewable content, and further seek to distinguish themselves by providing information on the type of renewable resource provided, our E-Book has a whole section on the ins and outs of green power, you should check it out!

By Veronique Bugnion, co-Founder ClearlyEnergy. You can find me on Google+

Photo credits: Johannes Valkama, Sean Davis via Flickr

Compare Rates In Your Area


NY Department of Public Service

Ny

Website: www.dps.ny.gov

ConEd

Website: www.coned.com

Outage map: apps.coned.com/stormcenter_external/default.html

Customer Service: 1 800 75 CONED

Orange & Rockland

Website: www.oru.com/index.html

Outage map: apps.coned.com/stormcenter_external_oru/default.html

Customer Service: 1 877 434.4100

Central Hudson

Website: www.centralhudson.com

Outage map: stormcentral.cenhud.com/default.aspx

Customer Service: 1 845 452.2700

Rochester Gas & Electric

Website: www.rge.com

Outage map: outagemap.rge.com/ny/?style=rge

Customer Service: 1 800 743.2110

NYSEG

Website: www.nyseg.com

Outage map: outagemap.nyseg.com/ny/?style=newyork

Customer Service: 1 800 743.2110

National Grid (NIMO)

Website: www1.nationalgridus.com/StateLandingNY

Outage map: www1.nationalgridus.com/PowerOutageMap

Customer Service: 1 800 642.4272