Every US electric bill splits into two structural pools. Supply is the kWh you consumed multiplied by your contracted supply rate. Delivery is the regulated wires, meter, and outage cost. In deregulated states, supply is shoppable and delivery is fixed. Switching suppliers changes only the supply line. Delivery, capacity, taxes, and riders stay exactly the same. Here is the line-by-line decoder so you can find each component on your own bill.
What is in the supply pool
Supply covers the actual energy. The line item is denominated in kWh times your contracted supply rate. On a typical $148 monthly bill, supply runs $80 to $95 (roughly 54 to 64 percent).
Suppliers compete on the supply line in deregulated states. The PUC licenses suppliers but does not set their rates. A clean fixed-rate lock signed in August through October typically prices supply 8 to 14 percent below the utility default.
What is in the delivery pool
Delivery covers the wires, meter, transmission, capacity, ancillary services, customer charge, taxes, and riders. The line items are regulated and identical for every customer in the same delivery zone.
Major delivery components: transmission (3 to 7 percent of bill), distribution (15 to 22 percent), capacity (10 to 18 percent), ancillary and riders (5 to 10 percent), taxes plus customer charge (3 to 6 percent). All set by the utility tariff filed with the PUC.
What changes when you switch suppliers (and what does not)
Changes: the supply line price per kWh, and the supplier name on the bill. That is it.
Stays the same: the utility name on the bill envelope, the meter, the wires, the outage response, the delivery tariff, the capacity charge, the riders, the taxes, the service quality, the timely-payment programs.
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Quick answers from the editorial desk
Can I shop the delivery portion of my bill?
Why does my delivery charge stay the same when I switch suppliers?
What is the capacity charge — supply or delivery?
What happens to my service if I switch suppliers?
Further reading