50K Pa. electric customers flip switch after price swings

Nearly 50,000 Pennsylvania electricity customers have given up on competitive suppliers in the last two months in the aftermath of wild winter price swings for variable rate customers, the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission reported Wednesday.

The PUC says that 2,177,499 customers were supplied by competitive suppliers, down 5,577 from the previous week, and down 49,368 or 2.2 percent from March 5.

Much of the erosion has occurred in central Pennsylvania, where television news reports have focused on variable-rate customers whose bills quadrupled after the polar vortex. About 2,857 Peco Energy Co. customers have switched back to the utility since March 5, less than 0.5 percent.