Philadelphia residents should prepare for higher electric and gas bills this winter.

PECO’s rate increase went into effect on Monday, raising the average residential supply rate by 6% to around 11 cents per kilowatt hour. The Philadelphia-based electric and natural gas company serves nearly 2 million customers in southeastern Pennsylvania.

Several electric utilities in Pennsylvania were slated to increase their rates on Monday, the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) announced in late November.

These rate hikes apply to the supply charge on the electric bill, which is the cost of the electricity that customers use and usually makes up 40-60% of customer’s total utility bills. These prices are driven by the energy market.

The other component of the electric bill, the delivery charge, is regulated by the PUC and tends to remain stable for multiple years, PUC said in the release.

PECO said in a statement that the supply charge for natural gas decreased. Its residential prices declined from 62 cents to 52 per hundred cubic feet.

In addition to rising electricity supply rates, residents’ total energy bills will vary based on weather, their individual usage and other factors, PUC wrote in the release. The cost of electricity can account for more than half of customers’ energy bills during the winter heating months.

PECO rates also went up last January and June. The electricity company said in a statement to 6abc that the cost of electricity and natural gas has increased due to multiple factors, including the latest capacity auction held by regional grid operator PJM Interconnection. Electricity capacity costs rose to record highs in the July auction, resulting in higher rates for consumers. Experts attribute this to rising demand from AI data centers and decreasing supply from power plants.

People who are concerned about their winter heating bills should call their utilities as soon as possible to discuss affordability options and assistance programs.

PECO will offer limited-income customers one-time $750 grants through its temporary PECO Customer Relief Fund. Applications opened in August and the program is slated to continue through Dec. 31 or until available funds run out, according to the utility’s website.

Residents also can seek help from PECO’s Customer Assistance Program, which provides monthly credits to customers with household incomes at 150% or below the federal poverty line, and the state’s Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), which helps families pay for their heating bills.

Philadelphia residents also should look out for another Philadelphia utility that is raising prices this month: Philadelphia Gas Works.

The city’s natural gas provider increased average customer bills by 6.6%, from $92.60 to $98.70. The rate hikes took effect Monday, a spokesperson for PGW confirmed. The utility’s revenue rose to $62 million, a significant decrease from the $105 million PGW originally requested before filing a settlement agreement with several advocacy groups. PUC approved the final rate hikes in October.

Customers enrolled in PGW’s Customer Responsibility Program (CRP) will not be impacted by the rate increase, as they are billed based on their income, not their usage, a PGW spokesperson told the Local. PGW also offers assistance to customers struggling with medical emergencies and other hardships through its Customer Assistance Referral Evaluation Program (Cares) program.