Pittsburgh winter heating typically uses gas furnace for primary heat plus electric supplemental (heat pump, baseboard, or radiant). Duquesne Light delivers electricity. Peoples Natural Gas and Columbia Gas split the gas market: Peoples covers Pittsburgh proper; Columbia covers Allegheny suburbs. Locking both fuels simultaneously beats locking either alone. Combined locked-rate savings vs both default tariffs: $340 to $620 per heating season.
Utility split in Pittsburgh
Electricity: Duquesne Light covers Pittsburgh + Allegheny County. PTC at 12.4 cents per kWh, highest among PA's three major utilities. Gas: Peoples Natural Gas covers Pittsburgh proper. Columbia Gas of Pennsylvania covers most suburbs.
Both gas utilities offer supplier choice through the PUC. Peoples typically has more competitive supplier options in the Pittsburgh metro; Columbia has a wider footprint across western PA suburbs.
The dual-fuel lock strategy
Step 1: lock electricity supply through PaPowerSwitch with a 24-month locked rate. Best window: August through October. Estimated savings vs Duquesne PTC: $180 to $290 per year.
Step 2: lock gas supply (Peoples or Columbia depending on your address) for 24 months in the same window. Estimated savings vs default: $160 to $330 per year. Combined: $340 to $620 per year.
Heating fuel mix and the supplemental decision
Most Pittsburgh homes use a 95+ AFUE gas furnace as primary heat. Supplemental options: a heat pump (best ROI for moderate winters, IRA tax credit applies), electric baseboard in remote zones (cheapest install), or radiant electric (highest comfort, highest operating cost).
For Pittsburgh's climate zone 5A, a CCHP-certified heat pump runs efficient down to about 5 F. Below that, the gas furnace takes over via a dual-fuel thermostat. This captures the heat-pump operating savings on most heating hours while preserving gas-furnace capacity for cold snaps.
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