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Corporate monopolies can be especially problematic in both the life of your small business and your personal life, too. If a company can control you by implementing, changing, and inventing new policies that you have no choice to submit to, it puts you in a position of loser. Competition, by contrast, encourages fair, balanced practices, something monopolies just don’t do.

Today, utility monopolies are a problem in many states. However, in’96, Pennsylvania undertook steps to correct this imbalance. Pennsylvania’s electricity market, in other words, was deregulated, which meant that more competition could come in, and service-oriented electric providers became commonplace in every region.

Soon, it was recognized elsewhere that electricity deregulation was positive for consumers. To that end, the Federal Communications Commission, or the FCC, issued orders to include the local telephone market in deregulation as well. On November 1,’99, natural gas customers too could experience the benefits of deregulation when they had their free choice of utilities.

There are approximately ten companies to choose services from in each of the three utility categories. Low rates are a priority to all service providers since this is the most important benefit that they can offer to residents. Almost of equal importance is service, making sure that outages are taken care of in a timely fashion. Referrals and good ratings will increase their chances for increased business.

Utility companies can also offer incentives to attract customers when they’re in competition, and can provide industry knowledge that’s been updated. Free gift perks are not unheard of, but keep in mind that nothing is really free. Before you undertake any agreement, read the fine print and understand it.

If you do ever feel that you’ve been scammed, or if you feel that you’ve been “crammed,” which is the practice of adding additional charges to your account without your knowledge or consent, contact the Office of Consumer Advocate. The Pennsylvania General Assembly set up this organization in’76, to give consumers the ability to demand just and fair service from utility providers.

The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission stands for balance between the needs of the consumers and utilities to ensure safe and reliable service. With the public in mind, they also seek to further economic development by educating the public on making good, sound choices when choosing utility companies.

In a world where corporate monopolies can be unjustified in their procedures and policies, your complaints can fall on deaf ears. After all, where are you going to go? Pennsylvania had the insight to see the state heading in this unpopular direction and made the decision to give everyone a choice. Now, several utility companies, customers, along with the Public Utility Commission are all working together to provide the best service possible at an affordable cost.

About the author: Jerry Dyess has been writing about the Texas Commercial Electricity market segment for many years and written articles on Business Electric prices.

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