Ok, I dug through this old post to get info for my contract renewal. After 30 mins of googling, I found that my current supplier (trieagle 'green eagle') was still cheapest for '100% PA windpower', and offered a discount (about 0.6 cents/kWh) to renewing customers.
That was the good news. The bad news is that the new fixed rate is 10.1 cents/kWh for 36 mos, versus my previous rate of 8.5 cents for the last 24 mos.
Looks like the price is set by in-state RPS compliance RECs (which are mostly wind), whose costs have gone up $15 (per 1 MWh, or 1.5 cents/kWh) in the last 2 years in PA. When I signed up in 12/2012, they only cost $1, now they are more like $16. I guess they found their customers?
DOE page:
http://apps3.eere.energy.gov/greenpower/markets/certificates.shtml?page=5
The same outfit sells wind power tied to national wind RECs that are still being priced at $1/MWh (0.1 cent/kWh). No surprise, that power is about 1.5 cents cheaper. I am happy to pay an extra penny to support my instate RE generators, and know they are feeding into my local grid, rather than a saturated (and thus ultra low price) REC market in west texas or iowa.
Bottom line, I went from 0.5-1 cent
cheaper than conventional/Excelon power to ~1 cent
more. Oh well, if Laszlo's PECO price trend above holds, I could still end up saving over the 3 year contract term.
-----------------------------------------------
While my PA windpower cost went up 10% relative to my contract 2 years ago (including distribution), in the last two years energy retrofits have dropped my BTU heating requirements by 25%, and DIY alterations to my HP controller should increase my SCOP by 25%.
In oil terms, my 2250 sq ft house would currently require ~500 gallons/yr at 4500 HDD65, and will instead use ~6000 kWh/yr of local windpower costing $900, or the equivalent of $1.80 per gallon HO. Current prices are falling, but are currently
$3/gal $2.40/gal in my area. In addition, of course, we are saving ~6-7 tons of CO2 per year (or 13 tons/year relative to pre-retrofit oil usage)
In EV terms, my fuel cost to go 100 miles is now ~$4.50 with local wind power, versus a Prius getting a seasonal average 45 mpg at (current/local) $2.60 gasoline, which works out to $5.75 / 100miles. So, our EV is saving $125 and roughly 3 tons of CO2/yr relative to a Prius (at 10k miles per year), which is why when they see a Prius on the road the kids like to point and say 'Look, a gas guzzler!'
And then when I feel too righteous, I fly to Hong Kong on business.