New York electricity choice
Short answer. New York allows ESCO supply choice in utility territories such as Con Edison, National Grid, NYSEG, RG&E, Central Hudson, and Orange & Rockland. Long Island is a different structure under PSEG Long Island and LIPA. The ESCO Consumer Bill of Rights limits how suppliers can enroll you.
What you can shop for in New York
Retail choice, where it exists, splits the bill. Supply is the electricity or the generation service. Delivery is the poles, wires, metering, and outage response. Shopping can change the supply price. It does not move you to a different set of wires, and it does not change who you call when the power is out.
New York sits in NYISO. Wholesale prices in that region influence what suppliers offer, but the offer you sign is a retail contract with its own term, fees, and renewal rule. A low introductory supply rate can lose to a higher flat rate once a monthly fee, a usage credit, or an early termination fee is included.
Who regulates it, and where to compare
The regulator is the New York State Department of Public Service. The public comparison starting point is New York Power to Choose. Use that site or your own bill for the price to compare or default-service price. This page does not rank suppliers and it does not publish a live rate, because those numbers change and depend on the utility account.
- Read the utility name printed on the bill before you shop. Offers are filed by delivery territory.
- Compare the supply price at your typical monthly kWh, not at an advertised teaser tier.
- Write down the contract length, the early termination fee, and what happens when the term ends.
- Confirm the supplier is licensed before you enroll. A door-to-door pitch is not proof of a license.
What this guide does not cover
Natural gas choice, where the state allows it, is a separate enrollment with a different price unit (often a therm or Ccf). Municipal aggregation or community power, where a town buys supply for residents unless they opt out, is also separate from picking a supplier yourself. If your bill is from a municipal utility or a cooperative, assume you cannot use the investor-owned shopping site until the bill shows otherwise.
Questions people ask
Can I choose an electricity supplier in New York?
New York allows ESCO supply choice in utility territories such as Con Edison, National Grid, NYSEG, RG&E, Central Hudson, and Orange & Rockland. Long Island is a different structure under PSEG Long Island and LIPA. The ESCO Consumer Bill of Rights limits how suppliers can enroll you.
Will my power stay on if I switch?
Yes. The delivery utility still owns the lines and responds to outages. A supply switch changes the generation charge on the bill, usually on a future meter-read cycle, not the same day.
Where do I see the number I need to beat?
Look for the price to compare, standard offer, basic service, or default supply price on the bill or on New York Power to Choose. Beat that supply price after fees, not the all-in cents on a national EIA average.
Next, use the state directory to open a city page only after this page confirms you are in a choice territory. Then read how a switch is timed and how early termination fees work.
Use the bill, not a stale screenshot
New York electricity choice comes down to documents you can keep: the utility name on the bill, the supply price or default price, the kWh or demand that drove the charges, and the term and fees in any contract. National average prices from the Energy Information Administration are context. For 2024, EIA put average residential use at 865 kWh a month and the average residential price at 16.5 cents per kWh. For June 2026, EIA reported 18.34 cents per kWh of residential revenue. Those figures mix supply and delivery for the whole country. They are not a price to compare, and they are not an offer in this territory.
If a salesperson’s number and the bill disagree, keep the bill. Shop Energy Prices does not rank suppliers and does not publish a live rate table. Re-check the official shopping site or the utility tariff on the day you enroll, because offers and default prices change.
Going further on New York electricity choice
New York electricity choice is a local shopping problem only if the account is in a retail-choice territory and the account is in your name. The utility printed on the bill is the fact. The city name is a hint.
Where choice exists, you shop supply. Delivery, outages, and the meter stay with the utility. A supplier that does not name that utility is showing you the wrong product.
The benchmark is the price to compare, basic service, standard offer, or standard-offer service for that utility, not the national average. EIA’s 16.5 cents per kWh for 2024 and 18.34 cents of residential revenue per kWh in June 2026 mix supply and delivery for the whole country.
Offers change. This site does not rank companies and does not post a live table. On the day you enroll, read the contract term, the monthly fee, and the early termination fee at your own kilowatt-hours.
An illustration only: moving from 7 cents to 6 cents on 820 kilowatt-hours is 8 dollars before fees. A monthly fee or an early termination fee can erase it. Delivery does not disappear.
Addresses on the edge of a town, and addresses served by a municipal utility or a cooperative, often cannot use the investor-owned shopping site. If the bill and this page disagree, follow the bill.
What to verify before you act
Write down the utility name, the account name, the supply price or default price, and a typical month of use. New York electricity choice does not change those four facts. If a contractor, a supplier, or a city page disagrees with the bill, the bill wins. Shop Energy Prices does not sell electricity and does not keep a live rate table.
Use one official source for the benchmark: the price to compare or default service on the bill, the state shopping site if your state publishes one, or the commission docket that sets the default. EIA’s national averages are context for scale. They are the wrong number to beat.
Keep the contract PDF. Circle the term, the fee to leave, the renewal rule, and any pass-through that is not fixed. A verbal match to a competitor is not the product. If you are inside a cancellation window, follow the written notice method the same day and keep a copy.
Re-read the contract or tariff section that mentions New York electricity choice and copy the defined term into your notes. If the defined term does not match the way a salesperson used the words, the defined term controls. Ask the supplier or the utility, in writing, which line on the next bill will change and which lines will not.
Re-read the contract or tariff section that mentions New York electricity choice and copy the defined term into your notes. If the defined term does not match the way a salesperson used the words, the defined term controls. Ask the supplier or the utility, in writing, which line on the next bill will change and which lines will not.