Duquesne Light Default Service Rate Increased 11% in December 2025 for Greater Pittsburgh Area

Duquesne Light, which serves the Greater Pittsburgh area, concluded its September 2025 electricity supply auction, marking the final procurement round for the December 2025-May 2026 period. Based on those results, we originally estimated the new price to compare would land around 13¢/kWh. The official rate came in higher at 13.75¢/kWh.

The new price to compare of 13.75¢/kWh represents an 11% increase from the prior rate of 12.43¢/kWh. That follows the 15% jump Duquesne customers saw in June 2025 when the rate climbed from 10.85¢/kWh to 12.43¢/kWh. Persistent PJM capacity costs are keeping upward pressure on bills and are projected to remain elevated through at least May 2027.

Bill impact at the new rate

Moving from 12.43¢/kWh to 13.75¢/kWh adds 1.32¢ per kWh. Here are three common usage scenarios:

Monthly usage	Extra supply cost
750 kWh	~$9.90 per month
1,000 kWh	~$13.20 per month
2,000 kWh	~$26.40 per month

We track supplier offers, customer shopping statistics, and utility auction progress on our Duquesne data page. You can also find this information for the other Pennsylvania utilities on the PA page.

How the Duquesne “Price to Compare” is Determined

Default Service Procurement in a Nutshell

Duquesne Light conducts auctions twice a year where electricity suppliers submit bids to provide default supply service to customers that do not choose an alternative supplier. These auctions are staggered throughout the year and consist of one and two-year terms. The strategy of layering purchases over multiple auctions is intended to smooth out the impact of market volatility on the default supply service rate. The cumulative results of these auctions then become the foundation of the supply portion of Duquesne’s “price to compare” - the rate you see on your bill, which typically gets updated twice per year.

Your monthly Duquesne bill splits into two parts: delivery charges (set by state regulators) and supply charges. For supply, you have options - stick with Duquesne’s “price to compare” or choose from competitive suppliers in the market.

Duquesne’s strategy for securing default service power is designed with stability in mind. Rather than buying all their power at once, they spread purchases across multiple auctions throughout the year. This typically helps shield customers from market spikes, but it also means that when fundamental costs like capacity prices rise dramatically, rate increases become unavoidable.

Auction Results Explained

Duquesne’s most recent auction included two different term lengths:

• 25% of supply for December 2025 - November 2026
• 12.5% of supply for December 2025 - November 2027

Procurement Period	% for the Period	Price
December 2025 - November 2026	25%	9.25¢/kWh
December 2025 - November 2027	12.5%	9.512¢/kWh

The chart below shows recent auction history, going back to 2024. The stacked bars represent different auctions and show how those auction prices contribute to the total weighted average price for each service period (the blue line). The dotted red line shows Duquesne’s price to compare history. Now that we know the final weighted average price of 8.951¢/kWh for the December 2025 - May 2026 service period, we estimated what the new price to compare would be in December.

Note about units: The chart below shows prices in $/MWh. For reference, $10/MWh = 1¢/kWh.

The chart above shows Duquesne’s procurement schedule and weighted average prices across multiple auctions.

What Makes Up the Duquesne “Price to Compare”

The 8.951¢/kWh auction price is the main component of the supply portion of Duquesne’s “price to compare”, but there are a couple of other components that get added to determine the final rate:

Transmission system costs

This component covers transmission system maintenance and upgrades and is the second largest component of the price to compare, after the auction price.

Adjustments for line losses

Accounting for electricity lost as heat during transmission.

Administrative costs

Expenses for managing the default service program and billing.

State taxes

Various state-level taxes applied to electricity supply.

The final price to compare is calculated by adding these components to the auction price. The official rate for the December 2025 - May 2026 service period came in at 13.75¢/kWh, slightly above our original estimate of 13¢/kWh based on the auction results alone.

The PJM Capacity Auction Impact

We wrote an explainer earlier this year about the 2025-2026 PJM capacity auction results, which resulted in effective capacity prices ~4.5x higher for Duquesne customers starting in June 2025. Capacity costs will increase an additional 22% in June 2026.

Check out the capacity write-up linked above if you’re interested in taking a deeper dive. The long and short of it is that the capacity costs increases are likely here to stay for a few years, and are impacting customers across the entire Mid-Atlantic region.

What This Means for You

For Duquesne Default Service Customers

• Rate Increase: The electricity supply rate increased 11% beginning December 1st, 2025
• Bill Impact: For the average household in the Pittsburgh region, this translates to approximately $10-$13 more per month in supply charges
• Future Outlook: Rates could increase again in June 2026, based on the current auction progress, but it’s too early to tell for sure with other major price-to-compare components undetermined.

For Electricity Shoppers

• Depending on future market conditions, customers might save money by shopping around for alternative suppliers
• You can track supplier offers on our Duquesne page, where we track supplier offers from the official Pennsylvania rateboard.

The chart below is an example of the type of data you can find on our Duquesne page. It shows current supplier offers for Duquesne customers, arranged by contract length and price. The dotted green line represents the current Duquesne price to compare.

Key Takeaways

Here’s what you should know about Duquesne’s latest auction results:

• The Duquesne price to compare increased to 13.75¢/kWh in December 2025, up from 12.43¢/kWh — slightly above our original forecast of 13¢/kWh
• An additional increase in PJM capacity cost in June 2026 will keep rates elevated through at least May 2027
• Depending on future market conditions, you might be able to save money by shopping around for alternative suppliers

Note: The estimated bill impacts are general approximations. Your actual bill impact may vary based on your specific rate plan and electricity usage patterns.