A state’s name on a choice map is a starting point. This guide focuses on household electricity, with limits beside each place’s entry. It’s part of our guide to how electricity works.
What does deregulated energy mean?
Energy choice means you can pick the company that supplies your electricity, where your utility’s program allows it.[1] The supplier sells the electricity; your local utility still delivers it to your meter.[1] You may also see this called retail choice or customer choice.[1]
This consumer option is often called retail choice or customer choice.[1]
Choosing supply doesn’t replace the physical delivery system.[1] Our guide to how power reaches your home explains that path. Here, we’ll focus on whether you can choose the company selling your supply.
Which states let households choose an electricity supplier?
The places below have household supplier-shopping programs, with different limits. Read your place’s limits before opening its official choice page. The table covers programs we checked; it doesn’t list every state.
| State or district | Household electricity choice |
|---|---|
| ConnecticutEligible utility areas | Eversource and United Illuminating offer a choice of suppliers.[2] Financial-hardship or medically protected accounts can choose a rate no higher than the utility’s Standard Service rate.[3] |
| DelawareDelmarva Power | The state regulator says electricity choice is currently available to Delmarva Power accounts.[4] |
| IllinoisComEd and Ameren | ComEd and Ameren Illinois areas have choice. LIHEAP bill help in the previous 12 months or enrollment in the PIPP payment plan can limit shopping. Confirm your program’s rules.[5] |
| MaineSupplier choice | You can choose a supplier or use default supply, called the Standard Offer.[6] |
| MarylandCheck available offers | Household supply shopping is available.[7] An offer needs the state regulator’s approval if your household received Office of Home Energy Programs (OHEP) help. This applies to the current or previous fiscal year.[8] |
| MassachusettsMunicipal limit | The state regulator provides a supply-shopping site for homes.[9] Its supplier-choice rule excludes homes served by a city-owned utility, called a municipal light plant.[10] |
| New HampshireSupplier choice | You can keep utility supply or choose a competitive supplier. The Department of Energy explains what to compare.[11] |
| New JerseyCompare supply | The supply part of your bill is open to competition. Start with the state regulator’s guidance for homes.[12] |
| New YorkAccount limits | The state regulator’s Power to Choose site compares supply offers for homes.[13] Low-income program status can restrict supply choices.[14] Use the site’s low-income-participant filter and confirm eligibility with your utility.[13] |
| OhioProgram exclusions | The choice program excludes accounts with co-ops, city utilities or the PIPP payment plan.[15] Check Energy Choice Ohio for your utility’s options. |
| PennsylvaniaCAP exclusion | You can shop in service areas where suppliers compete.[16] Customer Assistance Program (CAP) participants can’t currently buy competitive supply.[17] |
| Rhode IslandRhode Island Energy | Rhode Island Energy accounts can choose supply. Block Island and Pascoag Utility Districts don’t participate.[18] |
| TexasCompetitive areas | Check your utility in the state regulator’s guidance for areas with supplier choice. Living in Texas alone doesn’t establish choice.[19] Some city utilities and co-ops opt in, so check yours.[20] |
| District of ColumbiaSupplier choice | DC has electricity-supply choice. Its commission points you to DC Power Connect to compare suppliers.[21] |
Rules can change. Your utility or your state’s utility commission has the latest.
Use the table to find the right place to start, then read that program’s page with your own account in mind. If a limit applies to you, ask the utility what it means for your supply. Don’t assume an offer shown for another home is one you can use.
Why do lists of deregulated states give different totals?
Lists can describe different things: home electricity, business supply or natural gas. The distinction matters when you want to shop for your home. These places show why a general energy-choice label needs more detail.
| Place | Why the label needs care |
|---|---|
| CaliforniaDifferent programs | New Direct Access enrollment is capped and limited to nonresidential accounts. Community choice aggregation makes a community-selected provider the default, with an option to stay with or return to the utility.[22] |
| GeorgiaNo home electricity choice | The electric-choice rule covers large manufacturing or commercial electricity use.[23] Atlanta Gas Light’s territory has a separate natural-gas marketer program.[24] |
| MichiganNo home enrollment | A choice program has an enrollment limit. The state regulator says no licensed alternative suppliers currently market to or enroll home accounts.[25] |
| MontanaElectric market closed | The state regulator says its electricity supply market is no longer open to choice. Its gas guidance describes separate supply options.[26] |
| OregonNonresidential access | The state regulator’s Direct Access program lets accounts for places other than homes buy from a certified supplier.[27] |
| VirginiaLimited access | The state regulator describes shopping for accounts that use large amounts of power.[28] Virginia’s statute limits supplier access by utility and account type. Check the commission’s rules for your account.[29] Dominion Virginia has an approved 100% renewable rate plan.[30] |
Before using any total, check which fuel and type of account it covers. Also check whether it includes restricted programs and counts DC alongside states. For your home, the useful answer is whether your utility account qualifies.
If two maps seem to disagree, compare their labels before choosing one to trust. Does “choice” mean a new household can pick a supplier today, or that a limited program exists? Use the commission’s household guidance to answer your own question.
Does living in a choice state mean you can shop?
Living in a choice state doesn’t mean you can shop. Your utility and account can narrow the options shown by a state map.[1,5]
Start with the name of the company delivering your electricity. Then check who holds that utility account and whether a program limits its supply choices.
Find your answer
What should you check first?
- “I hold the utility account and don’t get help with my bill”
Check your utility’s choice program.
Find your utility on the official state site, then check offers for your service area. Co-ops and city utilities need their own check; some offer choice.[1]
- “My building holds the utility account”
Find out who holds the utility account.
If the building holds the account, you may not be the person who selects supply. Maryland, for example, limits supplier contracts to the utility account holder or a legal representative.[31] Ask who manages that account before comparing offers.
- “I hold the utility account and get help with my bill”
Check your program’s supply rules.
If your apartment’s account arrangement is unclear, start with how your apartment’s electricity is billed. A line on a rent statement doesn’t tell you who holds the utility account. Confirm that detail before treating the state table as your own shopping options.
You can ask your utility: “Can this account choose a supply offer, and are there any program limits I should check?” That keeps the question tied to your home. If you get help with your bill, name that program when you ask.
What stays the same when you change suppliers?
Your local utility still delivers electricity to your meter and charges for that service.[1] Changing the seller of your supply doesn’t change that delivery role. Our guide to what supply and delivery charges pay for explains the bill’s separate parts.
Keep the delivery company’s name and the supply company’s name separate in your notes. When you look at an offer, ask which company will bill you and what that bill will cover. Use the answer to keep track of what you’re comparing.
Do you have to choose an electricity supplier?
Some programs let you stay with utility supply. Connecticut, Maine and New Hampshire describe that option.[2,6,11] Ohio also says your electric utility will keep supplying electricity if you don’t choose a supplier.[32]
If you’re moving, confirm who sells power at the new address. If you’re staying put, check what supply you already have before comparing. The choice program and your existing contract are separate things to understand.
How do you compare offers once you know you can shop?
Start with your commission’s shopping site and the terms of each offer. New Hampshire’s comparison guidance asks about price type, contract length, fees and renewal.[11] Keep those details beside the advertised price when you compare.
- Find your current supply price on your bill and compare the offer with it, including all fees.[34,11]
- Compare estimated costs at the same expected monthly use, with the same charges included on both sides.[35] Texas’s Electricity Facts Label shows a total average price, including all recurring charges except sales taxes and state gross-receipts tax reimbursement. That’s a different measure from a supply-only price.[35]
- Check whether the price stays the same or can change, and how long the contract lasts.[11]
- Look for recurring charges, cancellation fees and the billing arrangement.[11]
- Read the renewal terms. Connecticut’s regulator warns that automatic renewal can mean a higher price.[34]
Massachusetts’s official shopping site says competitive supply doesn’t guarantee savings.[36] Take time to decide whether an offer fits your home. If you’re eligible in Pennsylvania, our guide shows how to compare Pennsylvania electricity offers on PA Power Switch.
Keep a copy of the offer’s terms so you can check the price, fees and end date together. If a term is unclear, ask the supplier to explain it before you sign. You don’t need to choose based on the headline price alone.
How Public Grid helps
With Public Grid’s energy supply service, we check availability at your address and compare supplier rates with your current rate.[37] You can link your utility account or upload a bill, and there are no fees from Public Grid.[37] We earn money through referrals from our energy partners when we connect you to their programs.[38]
Common questions
Natural gas choice and electricity choice have separate programs and eligibility rules.[23][24] Georgia, for example, has a natural-gas marketer program in Atlanta Gas Light’s territory.[23][24] Its electricity choice covers large commercial and manufacturing electricity use.[23][24] Check your gas and electricity options separately.
Start by finding out who holds the utility account. If the building holds it, you may not be the person who selects its electricity supplier.[31] Maryland’s guidance, for example, says only the utility account holder or a legal representative can enter a supplier contract.[31] An electricity charge in your rent doesn’t answer that account question.
It’s a different arrangement.[22] In California, community choice aggregation lets a city, town or county become the default energy provider in its jurisdiction.[22] People there can opt out and stay with or return to their utility.[22] That differs from individually comparing competing suppliers.[22]
Choosing a supplier doesn’t guarantee a lower bill.[36] Massachusetts’s official shopping site says competitive supply doesn’t guarantee savings.[36] Check the price, contract length, fees and renewal terms before deciding.[11][34] A lower advertised price alone doesn’t settle whether an offer fits your home.[36]
Sources · 38
- 1Can customers choose their electricity supplier? · U.S. Energy Information Administration
- 2Choose a supplier: Information for consumers · Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority
- 3Payment assistance programs · Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority
- 4Customer electric choice · Delaware Public Service Commission
- 5Electric choice: Frequently asked questions · Illinois Commerce Commission
Show all 38Show fewer
- 6Electricity delivery · Maine Public Utilities Commission
- 7MD Electric Choice · Maryland Public Service Commission
- 8Retail supply offer rules for OHEP recipients · Maryland Public Service Commission
- 9Energy Switch Massachusetts · Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities
- 10Utility service: Supplier eligibility · Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities
- 11Choosing an energy supplier · New Hampshire Department of Energy
- 12Residential customers · New Jersey Board of Public Utilities
- 13Power to Choose · New York State Department of Public Service
- 14Notice of adoption: Low-income ESCO service waiver (December 11, 2024) · New York State Register, Public Service Commission
- 15Energy Choice Ohio: Frequently asked questions · Public Utilities Commission of Ohio
- 16How to switch your electric supplier · Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission
- 17Customer Assistance Program shopping order (March 2025) · Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, Pennsylvania Bulletin
- 18Considering another electric supplier? · Rhode Island Public Utilities Commission
- 19Choosing an electric plan · Public Utility Commission of Texas
- 20Transmission and distribution service providers · Electric Reliability Council of Texas
- 21Choose an electric, natural gas and telecom provider · Public Service Commission of the District of Columbia
- 22Retail choice · California Public Utilities Commission
- 23Electric utilities · Georgia Public Service Commission
- 24Natural gas · Georgia Public Service Commission
- 25Electric customer choice · Michigan Public Service Commission
- 26Pick a different utility company · Montana Public Service Commission
- 27Direct access · Oregon Public Utility Commission
- 28Energy regulation · Virginia State Corporation Commission
- 29Virginia Electric Utility Regulation Act, §56-577 · Virginia General Assembly
- 30Energy choice in Virginia · Dominion Energy Virginia
- 31Third-party electricity suppliers · Maryland Office of People’s Counsel
- 32Choosing an electric supplier · Public Utilities Commission of Ohio
- 33Moving into a new place · Oncor Electric Delivery
- 34Frequently asked questions · Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority
- 35Customer Protection Rules for Retail Electric Service: §25.475(g)(2) · Public Utility Commission of Texas
- 36Energy Switch Massachusetts · FAQ 18 · Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities
- 37Lower your electricity rate · Public Grid
- 38How Public Grid makes money · Public Grid
