Philadelphians will pay an average of $20 more a month for electricity next year if state regulators approve a proposal PECO submitted this week.

The company, a subsidiary of Exelon Corporation, requested a 12.5% hike for electric customers and an 11.4% increase for those receiving natural gas beginning in January 2027.

A typical residential customer who gets both energy sources from PECO is set to pay an additional $34.61 monthly, according to materials provided by the company. The relatively small number of gas-only households will pay an extra $14.52.

Most residents of Montgomery, Delaware, Bucks and Chester counties pay PECO for access to electricity and gas. Within city limits, PECO supplies electricity, with Philadelphia Gas Works, a city-owned utility, providing natural gas.

Electric bills, under the proposal, would dip 1.3% – about $2.30 a month – in April 2027, if the commonwealth permits PECO to spread the costs of two initiatives over a period of several years.

The hikes are expected to generate a combined $510 million a year, which PECO says in rate case documents is the “minimum necessary” to allow the company to invest in and maintain infrastructure and remain financially sound. PECO intends to spend nearly $10 billion over the next five years on infrastructure improvements.

“We understand that any increase in costs is difficult for families and businesses, and we don’t take this request lightly,” PECO President and CEO David Vahos said in a statement Monday. “These investments will strengthen the grid, reduce outages, and ensure we’re delivering the safe, reliable service our customers expect every day.”

PECO last requested a rate increase two years ago. Under a settlement agreement with the state’s Public Utility Commission (PUC), electricity bills rose 10% in 2025 and 1.8% earlier this year, while gas rates jumped 12.5% last year.

Five Democratic state representatives from Bucks County came out against PECO’s plan Tuesday and launched a petition urging the PUC to reject the company’s proposal.

“Working class and middle-class families are already underwater,” Rep. Tina Davis said in a statement. “If PECO thinks we are going to let them do this without a fight, they’ve got another thing coming.”

In its rate case filings, PECO said its “ability to make necessary, reasonable and prudent investments to continue to serve customers will be impaired without a rate increase.”

Proposals to raise utility rates need to be approved by the PUC, an administrative process that can take up to nine months and includes legal hearings and public feedback.

Keywords

PECO,

Electricity rates,

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