FirstEnergy Pennsylvania rates: what you pay now and what changes Dec. 1

Pick your district and type your monthly use. The tool shows your bill now and on Dec. 1. Add an offer to see if it beats both prices.

This is an estimate for default service, not your bill. Delivery comes from FirstEnergy's tariff, and the Dec. 1 prices are FirstEnergy's own estimates. Nothing you type leaves your browser.

Your price to compare is the default supply price on your bill. FirstEnergy's own bill insert calls it "the price per kilowatt-hour (kWh) you pay for electric generation and transmission." If you have no supplier, you pay it for every kWh.

Today's prices started on June 1, 2026 and run through Nov. 30. The bill column is our math: delivery from FirstEnergy's tariff plus 1,000 kWh at the price to compare. Your own bill can differ by a few dollars.

How many offers beat each price? PA Power Switch is the state's shopping site. Here is what it lists for each district today.

These are offers priced per kWh for the standard home rate, read on October 20, 2026. "Lowest fixed" means fixed for 12 months or more, with no monthly fee and no cancel fee. The counts leave out our partner's plans. A low headline price can still cost more once fees and price jumps are added, so read the rule below before you sign.

Look at the top of your bill. It names Met-Ed, Penelec, Penn Power or West Penn Power. On paper the four are one company, FirstEnergy Pennsylvania Electric Company, with four rate districts for homes that keep their own prices. In 2024 the PUC said FirstEnergy serves about 2.1 million customers in 56 counties.

A county name alone can mislead, because some counties are split. In Centre County, State College is West Penn Power but Philipsburg is Penelec. In Crawford County, Meadville is Penelec but Conneaut Lake is Penn Power. Near Pittsburgh, Monroeville and Bethel Park are West Penn Power, and McCandless and Ross are Penn Power. The city of Pittsburgh itself is not on FirstEnergy's list; it is Duquesne Light.

Not a FirstEnergy bill? If yours says PPL, PECO or Duquesne Light, read our pages on PPL, PECO and Duquesne Light.

The cost of the power does not change on Dec. 1. FirstEnergy's own sheets show the same power cost for June 1 and for Dec. 1. What changes is a catch-up line.

FirstEnergy buys your power at auctions, long before you use it, then sets a price from those costs. If customers paid less than the power really cost, the gap is added to the next price. If they paid more, the gap is refunded. FirstEnergy calls this line the E factor. Its sheet says the line is "based on the actual over/under-collection balances for the prior rate period."

West Penn Power shows the swing best. On June 1 its catch-up line was a refund of 0.157¢. On Dec. 1 it turns into a charge of 0.154¢. Its power cost stays the same, yet the price still goes up.

That is about 3% on the price and about 2% on a whole bill. It is smaller than the last two Decembers, when prices rose 0.6¢ to 1.1¢. These are estimates. FirstEnergy's sheet says "actual charges will vary."

An offer wins only if it costs less than FirstEnergy's price for the whole contract. That is hard to know, because the FirstEnergy price changes twice a year.

Say you sign a fixed 12-month offer that starts near Dec. 1. For the first six months you compare it to the Dec. 1 price, which is known. For the last six months you compare it to the June 1, 2027 price, which is not.

The rule

Take a fixed 12-month offer only if it is at least 1¢ under the Dec. 1 estimate. The biggest drop at any June reset since 2020 was 1.2¢ (West Penn Power, June 2024), from FirstEnergy's own price history. A 1¢ gap keeps you ahead even if the June 2027 price falls by up to 2¢.

The rule assumes you use about the same amount all year and that the offer has no monthly fee. If it has one, add the fee to the price. The tool above does that for you. Then check the fine print.

Put the end date in your calendar. A supplier must send two notices before a fixed contract ends, one 45 to 60 days before and one 30 days before (52 Pa. Code § 54.5). You also have three business days to cancel after you get the written terms.

Three ways to go

The rule fits the buying plan FirstEnergy uses through May 31, 2027. FirstEnergy told investors it has asked the PUC to approve a new plan from June 1, 2027, that would buy power for homes in 12, 24 and 60-month contracts. It expects a ruling in the fourth quarter. That could change how prices move after May 2027.

Met-Ed's price rose 7.6% on June 1, from 12.965¢, the PUC reported. Its Dec. 1 rise is the biggest of the four districts. Our rule for Met-Ed: take a fixed 12-month offer only at 13.4¢ or less, with no monthly fee. Compare that line with the lowest fixed offer in the table. If even that one is above the line, nothing fee-free passes today.

Penelec's price jumped 11.88% on June 1, from 11.747¢, the biggest jump of the four districts (PUC). Its delivery charge is also the largest, so its bill at 1,000 kWh is the highest. PA Power Switch does not list the Standard Offer for Penelec right now, so a fixed offer is the main way to beat the default price. Our rule for Penelec: a fixed 12-month offer at 12.5¢ or less, with no monthly fee.

Penn Power serves Lawrence and Mercer counties and parts of Beaver, Butler, Crawford and Allegheny. Its price rose 6.9% on June 1, from 12.606¢, the smallest jump of the four (PUC). PA Power Switch lists the Standard Offer for Penn Power. Our rule for Penn Power: a fixed 12-month offer at 12.8¢ or less, with no monthly fee.

West Penn Power has the lowest price to compare and the lowest bill of the four. Its price rose 10.3% on June 1, from 10.947¢, the PUC reported. It was the only district with a refund line on June 1, and that line turns into a charge on Dec. 1. Our rule for West Penn Power: a fixed 12-month offer at 11.3¢ or less, with no monthly fee. A low price means fewer offers can beat it, so check the lowest fixed offer in the table.

Delivery pays for the poles, wires and meters. FirstEnergy sets it by tariff, and the PUC approves it. You pay it no matter who sells your power.

Three things can move this part. Riders are add-on charges that the tariff updates on set dates; the smart meter charge resets each January. The DSIC, a percent added to some delivery charges, is updated every quarter. And base delivery rates change only in a rate case. FirstEnergy told investors its rates took effect Jan. 1, 2025, and the PUC says it agreed not to seek any change in them before Jan. 1, 2027, at the earliest.

The four districts also kept separate rates when they merged on Jan. 1, 2024. FirstEnergy told investors they will not share one rate until 2033, or until three rate cases filed after Jan. 1, 2025 end, if that comes first. Our totals are our math from the tariff. Your bill can differ by under a dollar.

Each price lasts about six months, June 1 to Nov. 30 or Dec. 1 to May 31. Prices rose at each of the last four resets, in all four districts. The Dec. 1 estimate would make it five in a row. the December rises of 2024 and 2025 were 0.6¢ to 1.1¢, and this one is 0.3¢ to 0.5¢.

1. Before Dec. 1FirstEnergy files the final Dec. 1 prices with the PUC. Last year's filing was dated Oct. 15, 2025.
2. Fourth quarterFirstEnergy expects the PUC to rule on its plan for buying power from June 1, 2027.
3. Dec. 1, 2026The new price to compare starts and runs through May 31, 2027.
4. Jan. 1, 2027The smart meter charge resets. FirstEnergy's promise not to seek new base delivery rates ends at the earliest.
5. June 1, 2027The next price reset.