West Chester homeowners and their neighbors across Chester County now pay about 22¢ per kWh on PECO — and PECO's own CEO is pointing to growing AI data centers as the reason for the next rate hike request. A rooftop system in West Chester sets your price before that request lands.
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* These are estimates and can vary based on several factors.
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PECO's increases come in pieces rather than one big announcement: supply resets twice a year, plus delivery adjustments that fund grid replacement. What matters for a West Chester homeowner is the running total on the bill. Electricity from your own panels is priced under a fixed PPA, so none of those adjustments touch it.
PECO is Pennsylvania's largest utility by customer count, serving about 1.6 million customers across Philadelphia, Delaware, Montgomery, Bucks, and Chester Counties. Its all-in rate is about 22¢ per kWh today — 19.4% higher than 18 months ago.
Much of the grid underneath it dates back decades: federal energy data shows most U.S. transmission and distribution equipment was built in the 1960s and '70s and is nearing the end of its life. PECO has been spending billions to replace and harden it, and customers cover that through the delivery increases above.
AI data centers add a new layer. PECO's CEO has cited "growing AI data centers" as a reason for the next rate hike request, on top of a nearly $10 billion, five-year infrastructure plan. Supply and delivery together put PECO's rates up nearly 94% in five years — almost double.
The conversation is local, too. A developer is pursuing a data center of about 1.5 million square feet in East Whiteland Township, and it has drawn heavy resident opposition and legal challenges. The project is still contested, but plans like it are part of the local debate over how much power the region will need.
Solar on a West Chester roof breaks the link. You pay a fixed rate for the power your panels make, whatever PECO's next rate case decides.
Lock My Rate Now →Your PECO rate is pre-loaded. Tell us your monthly bill. We calculate your Year One savings and 25-year projection on the spot.
A Solar Energy Consultant assesses your roof, its sun exposure, and your annual usage. They custom design a system for your home or tell you honestly if your home doesn't qualify for solar.
We handle the PECO interconnection application, net metering enrollment, and all permit paperwork. From signing to installation typically takes two to three months.
Once installation and final inspections are complete, your utility gives the official Permission to Operate (PTO). At that point, your system is activated and starts producing power.
West Chester is the Chester County seat, and PECO also serves Exton, Coatesville, Malvern, Downingtown and the townships around them. Homes vary a lot across the county — brick and stone homes with mature trees in and around the borough, larger properties toward Parkesburg and western Chester County, and newer developments along the Route 30 corridor. Parts of West Chester Borough fall under historic-district review, which can affect panels visible from the street, so we check that before design. All systems are permitted through your municipality and connected through PECO's interconnection process, with a 25-year equipment warranty at no cost to you.
Start with two questions: are the crews licensed in Pennsylvania, and do they already know how your municipality handles solar permits and what PECO requires for interconnection? Permit handling differs from one Chester County municipality to the next, so local experience matters. A dependable installer answers to you directly and backs the equipment with a 25-year warranty at no cost to you.
Yes. West Chester Borough and the townships around it are PECO territory, and so are Exton, Coatesville, Malvern and Downingtown. The quickest check is your monthly bill — the utility's name is printed across the top.
Yes. PECO's all-in rate sits near 22¢ per kWh, up 19.4% in just 18 months and roughly 94% over five years. Its CEO has cited growing AI data centers as a reason for the next rate hike request, on top of a nearly $10 billion, five-year infrastructure plan. A solar PPA locks in a price below PECO's current combined rate before that next reset arrives.
It might. Some parts of West Chester Borough fall under historic-district review, which can cover exterior changes visible from the street. Whether it affects you comes down to your address and which roof slope faces the road. We look into that before you sign and plan the layout around it, so there are no surprises later.
Often, yes. On a tree-covered lot, shade is what matters, so each roof section gets evaluated for how much sun it actually receives. Larger properties frequently have a detached garage or outbuilding with a bright, open roof, which can host panels alongside the house or in place of it. Every property is reviewed individually.
It starts with PJM Interconnection, the wholesale market PECO and every other PA utility buys power from. Its capacity auction prices jumped more than 800% in 2024, driven by data center growth, power plant retirements and transmission bottlenecks. Utilities pass those costs to customers through supply rate increases twice a year. This is not a one-off — the forces behind it are structural and still in play for Chester County households.
Nobody was spared. PPL raised supply rates 20% in 2025, Met-Ed raised supply 24.6% over the past year, and PECO's all-in rate rose 19.4% across 18 months. Duquesne Light carries the highest all-in rate in the state at about 22.4¢/kWh and took the biggest single-reset jump of any PA utility in December 2025. Penelec, West Penn Power, Penn Power and Citizens Electric customers saw comparable increases. Whichever utility you have, solar options exist at fixed rates below the current utility price.
Ahead of your utility's next rate reset. PECO and every other PA utility reset supply rates twice a year, and each increase that lands before your system is running hits you at full retail. From signing to installation typically takes two to three months, with activation following. Starting sooner means fewer rate resets land before your system is generating.
Under a Power Purchase Agreement, the solar company installs, owns and maintains the panels on your roof, and you pay per kilowatt-hour for the power they generate — at a rate under what PECO charges. You put nothing down and take on no equipment or maintenance cost, since the system isn't yours.
Buying outright usually runs $15,000–$25,000 up front (less or more depending on system size). In return you own the system, claim the tax benefits and may add resale value, but you also carry repair and maintenance risk for 25+ years. A lease is different again: you pay a fixed monthly amount whether the system produces a lot or a little. A PPA bills only for actual production, so your payment follows your real usage. For Chester County homeowners without cash to buy, it delivers solar savings without the upfront outlay or ownership risk.
Nothing up front — you just pay less for your electricity. With a no-cost PPA, you're billed only for the electricity the system generates, at a rate under your utility's. There are no installation fees, no equipment charges and no maintenance bills. The free estimate on this page works out what solar would save on your specific PECO bill.
A purchased system typically lands between $15,000 and $25,000, which is exactly why no-cost PPA programs exist. Under a PPA you skip all of that: no equipment cost, no installation cost, no maintenance cost. You pay per kWh for what the panels produce, below your utility's current price, while the solar company owns the equipment and absorbs the risk. For most Pennsylvania homeowners, the pros and cons of solar look very different once the upfront cost is gone.
Buying a system outright generally runs $15,000–$25,000, depending on size. Through a PPA, nothing is due at signing or install — you just have cheaper electric bills. What you pay is just a per-kWh rate — the same kind of charge you already pay PECO, only lower. At signing and at installation, you owe $0.
Nothing up front — you just pay less for your electricity. As for lifespan, panels are typically warrantied for 25 years and keep producing well past that point, usually at 90–93% of their original output after 25 years.
Almost certainly, though a much smaller one. Under a PPA you pay the solar company for the power your panels make, at a rate below PECO's, and pay PECO only for whatever grid power you still use. If your system is sized to cover 100% or more of your annual usage, the PECO bill can shrink to just the monthly customer charge, typically $10–15. So yes, a bill remains — but a fraction of the old one.
Pennsylvania ranks among the stronger solar states. You get about 4.5–5 peak sun hours a day, legally protected 1:1 net metering across the state's utilities, and rates above the national average everywhere. PPL is at 19.2¢, Met-Ed at 21.1¢, PECO at 22¢ and Duquesne Light at 22.4¢ per kWh. With a PPA that costs nothing up front, the real question isn't whether Pennsylvania qualifies — it's whether your roof does.
For most, yes. The state averages 4.5–5 peak sun hours daily, net metering is protected by law, and every PA utility charges more than the national average. Panels keep working reliably through the state's gray stretches, and the power they generate offsets rising utility costs instead of leaving you stuck paying today's already-high rate.
Savings depend on your utility and your usage, but most PA homeowners save hundreds of dollars a year and tens of thousands over 25 years. On the environmental side, every kWh your panels produce is one a fossil-fuel plant doesn't have to generate, and a typical residential system offsets several tons of carbon emissions each year.
Net metering tracks the difference between what you pull from the grid and what your panels send back. When your system makes more than the house is using during the day, the surplus goes to PECO's grid and your account is credited at the full retail rate. Those credits then cover your nighttime and winter usage, when output is lower. Under Pennsylvania's Alternative Energy Portfolio Standards Act, utilities including PECO must offer residential customers 1:1 net metering: $1 of energy sent to the grid earns $1 of credit.
For now it's intact. The Alternative Energy Portfolio Standards Act and PUC regulations require PECO, PPL and Met-Ed to give residential customers 1:1 net metering, so $1 exported means $1 credited.
Many states are far stingier. A $1 export earns about $0.25 in California, $0.50 in Arizona (stepping down every September for new customers), $0.70 for West Virginia's Mon Power and Potomac Edison customers, $0.30 in Indiana, $0.50 in Utah and roughly $0.50 on average in Michigan. Pennsylvania isn't in that group at the moment, though utilities and regulators have been fighting over net metering rules in court since at least 2016.
The main option for homeowners without cash is the no-cost PPA. It isn't a state rebate — it's a financing structure that removes the cost barrier altogether. The state's core program benefit is net metering under the Alternative Energy Portfolio Standards Act, which credits surplus production at the full retail rate.
Panels on the roof absorb sunlight and turn it into DC electricity, and an inverter converts that to the AC power your house runs on. Your home uses solar first, before pulling anything from PECO. Any extra flows to the grid and earns credit at the full retail rate through net metering. When production dips at night or in winter, you draw down those banked credits before buying power. The result: your bill shrinks to the gap between what you used and what the panels produced.
Yes, at reduced output — usually 10–25% of peak. Counting cloudy days and seasonal swings, Pennsylvania averages 4.5–5 peak sun hours per day, and systems are sized with that in mind. The surplus you bank in high-production summer months is what makes up for the drop on overcast days and in winter. Chester County's climate falls comfortably within the range where solar pays off.
No, they need sunlight to produce. After dark your home pulls on net metering credits earned during the day, or on PECO's grid if those credits run out. A properly sized system generates enough daytime surplus to cover most or all of your nighttime and winter usage. Net metering is precisely what makes solar workable in a state with cold, dark winters.
Winter output is lower because days are shorter and the sun sits lower, but summer surplus banked through net metering fills the gap. For orientation, south-facing roofs produce the most in Pennsylvania, while east- and west-facing roofs still perform well when the system is sized properly.
A standard residential panel puts out roughly 350–450 watts in peak sun, which works out to 1.5–2 kWh per day depending on season and orientation. A full system of 20–30 panels typically adds up to enough to offset most or all of a typical Pennsylvania household's monthly electric bill.
It depends on your usage, but most homes need 20–30 panels to cover a typical bill. Roof size, sun exposure and monthly kWh consumption all shift the number, which is why the estimate above works from your own figures.
Sizing comes from your average monthly electric bill weighed against your actual usage. Most PA homes land in the 6–10 kW range. The estimator above uses your real bill and consumption to size a system for your home rather than relying on a generic average.
No. A no-cost PPA covers the solar equipment, installation and maintenance, but not roof replacement. If your roof needs replacing, that has to be done before panels go on. Roofs in good shape with 10 or more years of life left typically qualify without trouble, and a Solar Energy Consultant will assess yours and tell you plainly if it's an issue.
Plan on two to three months from signing to installation, with activation following. Starting now could have your system live before the next round of PECO rate increases.
The free estimate above uses your actual PECO rate to show what solar would save a West Chester home in Year One and over 25 years. Free, no obligation, no pressure.
See If Your Home Qualifies →