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Update #1: The following story is brought free of charge to readers by VertexOne, the exclusive EDI provider of EnergyChoiceMatters.com
Update #1, 5:03 pm ET
All of the proposals described below and in our earlier story below are limited to residential service
With regards to retail supplier pricing and purchase of receivables, FirstEnergy Pennsylvania proposes that if a retail supplier enrolls a customer with a price above the price to compare at the time of enrollment, the customer will be ineligible for POR, and FirstEnergy Pennsylvania will not purchase any of the supplier's receivables.
This is harsher than other periodic proposed reforms which would still allow POR for any products, but would limit the amount of purchased receivables to the price to compare.
Under FirstEnergy PA's proposal, for enrollments with a price exceeding the PTC, the retail supplier would be responsible for all arrearages arising from such customers
To implement this change, FE PA would mandate rate ready billing as a condition of a customer's eligibility for POR
FE PA would allow utility consolidated billing (UCB) without POR for products with rates in excess of the PTC and for bill-ready products, eliminating an all-in requirement for POR contained in the current the tariff
The POR changes would apply for, "all contracts entered into after June 1, 2027[.]"
FE PA noted that its POR program currently has a clawback provision meant to address excessive write-offs from specific retail suppliers, which would be replaced by the above-described proposal
FE PA said that the clawback charge does not fully compensate FE PA and its customers for excessive retail supplier write-offs, and cited the "burden" of administering the clawback program
A witness for FE PA said, "In 2025 alone, 16 EGSs -- nearly 18% of suppliers currently serving FE PA residential
customers -- incurred clawback charges totaling over $500,000. In aggregate, the EGSs that
were identified by the screening measures for the most recent clawback charge (November
2024 to October 2025) served approximately 150 million kWh of FE PA’s residential
customer load. Seven of those 16 EGS also incurred clawback charges in 2024, and four
were assessed three years in a row."
A witness for FE PA said, "In 2025, 84 EGSs served FE PA’s residential customers, with 68 of those suppliers
serving customers at a rate above the Company’s applicable PTC."
A witness for FE PA said that FE PA’s residential customers paid nearly $85 million more in
generation charges to those 68 EGSs that charged an average price in 2025 that was 27%
higher than the PTC
A witness for FE PA said that, in total, FE PA residential shopping customers paid
approximately $82 million more in net generation charges in 2025 than they would have
paid if they were paying for the same amount of generation at the Company’s default
service rates.
"In addition, in 2025, FE PA experienced an approximately 50% increase in formal and
informal customer complaints related to competition issues, including slamming and high
EGS prices, compared to 2024," a witness for FE PA said
The ban on auto-renewals for fixed price contracts, noted in our story below, would require a waiver of PUC rules, FE PA noted
Section 54.10(3) of the Commission’s regulations provides that a customer served by an EGS who does not respond to the required
notices regarding expiration of a fixed duration contract automatically renews with the
customer’s current EGS on a month-to-month contract or another fixed duration contract,
without cancellation fees.
Regarding the proposed affirmation requirement for month to month contracts, FE PA proposes that, starting June 1, 2027, residential customers
who select month-to-month variable products will be required to affirmatively consent, on
a quarterly basis, to remain with their existing EGS. If the EGS does not affirm customer
consent each quarter for those accounts on month-to-month variable rate products through
an electronic data interchange (EDI) transaction, the customer will be returned to default
service.
Earlier
This is a breaking news alert, and additional details will follow
FirstEnergy Pennsylvania announced that it is seeking several retail electric market consumer protections under a newly filed default service plan
In a news release, FirstEnergy Pennsylvania said, "The proposed plan includes several changes aimed at ensuring customers aren't unknowingly paying more for electricity than they intend[.]"
FirstEnergy Pennsylvania said that these proposals include:
• "When a fixed-term supply contract ends, residential customers would be automatically returned to FE PA's standard default service unless they choose to continue with their supplier.
• "Customers on month-to-month variable rate plans would also return to default service unless they confirm every quarter that they want to stay on their supplier's variable plan.
• "New guidelines for suppliers would encourage them to offer prices lower than the utility's price to compare, giving customers more opportunities to save. These guidelines will also limit how much we automatically pay to suppliers each billing cycle. Today, we pay suppliers before customers pay their bills, and unpaid charges get passed on to everyone. These limits help reduce how much can be passed on."
The last proposal appears to be a form of limitation of receivables paid to retail suppliers under POR.
More to follow.
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FirstEnergy PA Seeks To Purchase ZERO Receivables From Retail Suppliers For Products With Rate Above Price To Compare
Would Mandate Rate Ready Billing For POR
FE PA Residential Shoppers Paid $82 Million More In 2025 Versus Default Service
Earlier
FirstEnergy Pennsylvania Seeks To Mandate That Shopping Customers Return To Default Service At End Of Fixed Price Term, Unless Customer Chooses To Continue With Retail Supplier
Month to Month Contracts Would Require Confirmation From Customers Every Quarter That Customer Wishes To Remain With Retail Supplier
Limits On Receivables Paid To Retail Suppliers
February 4, 2026
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Copyright 2026 EnergyChoiceMatters.com
Reporting by Paul Ring • ring@energychoicematters.com
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