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Met-Ed has launched a public information campaign to get out the word about the program, which was approved by the state's Public Utility Commission earlier this year.
The company is running ads in area newspapers and on radio stations and placing inserts in bills to let people know about the program, said spokesman Scott Surgeoner.
Met-Ed started accepting applications for the program on April 1.
Electricity rate caps are removed for Metropolitan Edison customers at the end of 2010. Under the Voluntary Pre-payment Plan, customers can choose to overpay their monthly bills by as much as 9.6 percent, and Met-Ed would pay 7.5 percent interest on the money.
The funds would grow and then be applied to the customer's bill between January 2011 and December 2012, Surgeoner said.
Customers are eligible to enroll in the pre-payment plan any time until the end of December 2010, but would have more money set aside if they join earlier.
The rate caps, put in place in 1997 after legislators restructured the electric industry in 1996, are set to expire Dec. 31, 2010.
Legislation: But it isn't clear whether the rate caps will be entirely lifted as scheduled.
The state House Committee on Consumer Affairs recently unanimously passed HB 20, a bill that would phase in the rate cap removal over several years,
said Rep. Eugene DePasquale, a member of the committee.
He said the bill, which is expected to be voted on by the entire House by fall, has broad bipartisan support.
DePasquale said it would be pretty hard for some consumers to have to pay the entire increase at once.
The reason: That's precisely why the PUC pushed for programs like the one Met-Ed is offering, said PUC spokeswoman Jennifer Kocher.
"If a consumer can afford to do it, we encourage them to do it," she said. "We're hopeful that the people that cannot afford it ... will take advantage of low-income programs for utility bills."
Surgeoner has said the company believes the pre-payment plan addresses legislators' concerns about the increase.
He doesn't know how much bills will increase when the rate caps expire, he said, but escalating costs will be passed on to customers.
Customers can enroll in the plan by calling 1-866-283-8081 or by going to www.met-ed.com.
--Reach Christina Kauffman at 505-5436 or ckauffman@yorkdispatch.com.
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