Wholesale vs retail electricity
Short answer. Wholesale vs retail electricity is worth acting on only after you separate the energy you can shop or avoid from the delivery charges and fees you cannot. This page explains the mechanism, the bill lines, and the checks that keep a quote from outrunning the contract.
A closer look at Wholesale vs retail electricity
Wholesale vs retail electricity 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 13 cents to 12 cents on 1100 kilowatt-hours is 11 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. Wholesale vs retail electricity 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.
Questions people ask
What does Wholesale vs retail electricity change on the bill?
It changes the line this subject actually controls: supply, a rider, equipment runtime, or an export credit. It does not, by itself, remove delivery, taxes, or a fee the tariff still lists.
Where do I get the number to beat?
Use the price to compare or default supply price on your bill, or the commission’s posting for your utility. National average prices mix delivery and supply and are the wrong benchmark.
Can the figures on this page be used as a quote?
No. Any arithmetic here is an illustration with round inputs. Your tariff, your kilowatt-hours, and the contract you are about to sign are the quote.
Working the decision for this account
Start a one-page worksheet titled Wholesale vs retail electricity. Column one is the current arrangement: utility, rate class, supply price, term end date, and last month’s kilowatt-hours. Column two is the alternative: the offer or the equipment quote, with every fee written beside it. Column three is the difference at your usage, after the fee to leave the current contract if there is one.
If column three is not a positive number you are willing to rely on, do nothing. Default service, the current contract, or the current equipment remains a valid outcome. Wholesale vs retail electricity is not a reason to accept a teaser, a gift card, or a verbal promise that the PDF does not contain.
File the PDF and the worksheet together. When the term is within 60 days of ending, or when a commission resets the default price, reopen the sheet. Do not reopen it every week. Serial switching collects introductory prices and sometimes termination fees.
For a business account, add the billed demand and the hour it occurred. Wholesale vs retail electricity might be an energy decision, a demand decision, or both. Writing them in one column hides which lever you actually pulled.
For a household, note whether the account is in your name. A landlord account cannot be switched by the tenant. A municipal utility or a cooperative account often cannot use a retail-choice shopping site. The header on the bill is the test, not the city in the mailing address.
Going further on Wholesale vs retail electricity
Wholesale vs retail electricity 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 13 cents to 12 cents on 1100 kilowatt-hours is 11 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. Wholesale vs retail electricity 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.