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All states · Electric and gas

Your intro electric price is ending. What to do now

By Dr. Matthew Crowley

· 9 min read

Checked against: the official prices in each of the 18 states it covers. How we get our prices

Many supplier offers start with a low price. It looks great on the first few bills. Then the price changes, and the bill jumps.

That low starting price goes by a few names: an intro price, a promo price or a teaser rate. If you have one, the best time to act is before it ends. Here is how.

When it ends, the price to beat is your utility's standard price: the Ohio Price to Compare, the Pennsylvania Price to Compare or ComEd and Ameren's Price to Compare.

What is an intro price?

A supplier is a company that sells you the electricity or gas itself. Your utility still delivers it. Some suppliers win customers with a low price for the first few months.

The Ohio Consumers' Counsel (OCC) warns about "'teaser' rates where some marketers initially offer very low rates (the teaser) that are soon replaced by higher rates." (A marketer is another word for a supplier.)

In Illinois, the Citizens Utility Board (CUB) gives this advice: "Make sure the alternative supplier offer is not an introductory rate. And if it is, find out when it ends and what the new rate will be."

That is the whole game, wherever you live: know the end date, and know the next price.

Step 1: Find out when your price ends

Look in these places:

  • Your contract or disclosure statement. This is the paper or email you got when you signed up. Look for words like "introductory," "promotional," "initial term" or "variable after."
  • Your bill. If you have a supplier, its name and price usually show in the supply part of your utility bill. In Texas, and for gas in most of Georgia, the supplier sends the bill itself. Write down the price you pay today.
  • The supplier. Call the number for the supplier on your bill. Ask: "Is my price an introductory price? When does it end? What will my price be after that?"

Write the date on your calendar. Then add a second note two months before it. That gives you time to compare.

Step 2: Know which letters to expect

Most states make the supplier warn you before a contract ends or renews. How early, and how many letters, depends on your state. The list at the end of this guide has each one. A few examples:

  • Illinois: if your electric contract renews on its own, the supplier must send a renewal notice 30 to 60 days before the first contract term ends.
  • New Hampshire: the company must tell you at least 45 days before your plan ends.
  • Ohio: your supplier must send a notice 45 to 90 days before your contract ends. If it comes as its own letter or postcard, the front must say: "Important notice regarding your electric service contract's expiration."
  • Pennsylvania: you get two notices from your electric supplier. The first comes 45 to 60 days before the end. The second, called an options notice, comes by first-class mail at least 30 days before the end.
  • Texas: your company must send at least three notices. The last one comes at least 30 days before the plan ends.

One thing to watch: these letters are about the end of a contract. A short intro price that sits inside a longer contract may end without a letter like this. That is why it helps to know the date yourself.

Step 3: Know what happens if you do nothing

This is where many people get caught.

  • Illinois: home customers can leave an electric or gas supplier at any time with no fee. But you still pay the new price until you leave.
  • Michigan (gas) and Texas: if you do nothing, you move to a month-to-month price that can change every bill. You can leave it any time with no fee, but it can be high.
  • Ohio: the OCC warns about "'evergreen' contracts where the energy contract automatically renews, sometimes at much higher prices." Read the notice to see what your new price would be.
  • Pennsylvania: if you don't answer, a fixed electric contract turns into either a month-to-month contract or a new contract. It may be at new terms and a new price. The good news: the state's rules say the new contract can't have cancellation fees.
  • Connecticut, Maine and most other states: many plans start again on their own, often at a different price, and sometimes a price that changes each month. Act before the new price starts.

Step 4: Compare before the date

When the end date is close, you have three choices:

  1. Go back to your utility's standard price. That is what your utility charges if you never picked a supplier. Your bill may call it the Price to Compare, Standard Offer, Basic Service or another name. Call your utility and ask how to switch back. In Texas, and for gas in most of Georgia, there is no standard price. There, pick a new plan before the old one ends.
  2. Pick a new offer. Look for a fixed price with no monthly fee and no fee to leave, or a small one.
  3. Stay. Only if the new price is still lower than the standard price, fees included.

Two catches before you go back: in Illinois, Plug In Illinois says you "may have to stay with the electric utility for at least 12 months." In Michigan, after you go back to your gas company's price, you have to stay on it for 12 months.

Step 5: Check the fee to leave

  • Connecticut and Illinois: no fee for homes, by law.
  • Michigan (gas): at most $50 for a plan of a year or less, $100 for a longer one.
  • Pennsylvania: once your supplier sends the options notice, you can leave with no cancellation fee. If your contract already rolled over on its own, there is no fee. Otherwise, check your terms.
  • Rhode Island: at most $50, or twice an average month's bill if that is less.
  • Ohio and everywhere else: a fee to leave early is set by your contract. Ask the supplier before you leave.

My guide to early termination fees covers each state.

Already past the date?

If your bill already jumped, don't wait another month. See My electric bill jumped. Is it a variable rate? It walks you through what to do today.

Let someone else watch the date

End dates are easy to lose. The letter gets mixed in with junk mail. The price change hides in one line of a long bill.

That is the reason I built Judy Saves. When you join, I keep an eye on the offers for your area, email you when you could pay less, and remind you before your contract ends.

The rules in your state

Type your ZIP code on the Help page to open your state's page: what happens when a plan ends, how to go back, and who to call. Or go straight to the Ohio, Pennsylvania or Illinois page.

When the notice must come before a plan ends:

  • Illinois: if an electric plan renews on its own, 30 to 60 days before. A fixed price can't turn into a price that changes each month unless you say yes in writing.
  • Maine: two notices, 30 to 60 days before.
  • Maryland: 30 days before the contract ends, or 45 days if an electric plan renews on its own.
  • Massachusetts: if the plan renews on its own, 30 to 60 days before.
  • Michigan (gas): no set notice. The plan keeps going month to month, and you can leave any time with no fee.
  • New Hampshire: at least 45 days before.
  • Ohio: 45 to 90 days before, for electric and gas.
  • Pennsylvania: electric, 45 to 60 days before, then at least 30 days before by mail. Gas, about 60 to 75 days before, then at least 45 days before.
  • Rhode Island: 30 to 60 days before a fixed price ends, if the price will change.
  • Texas: at least three notices, the last at least 30 days before.
  • Connecticut, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, New Jersey, New York, Virginia and Washington, DC: no set timing. Watch your mail and email. Many plans start again on their own.

Judy Saves doesn't sell electricity or gas and isn't paid by any supplier. I'll never call you or knock on your door.

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