PECO

PECO is the electric and natural gas utility serving Philadelphia and the surrounding southeastern Pennsylvania region. Its headquarters occupies the building at 2301 Market Street in Philadelphia's Market West district, a location that houses both corporate operations and a walk-in customer service center. The company can be reached by phone at +1 800-494-4000, and account services, outage reporting, and program enrollment are handled online at peco.com.

As a regulated utility, PECO delivers electricity to roughly 1.6 million customers and natural gas to approximately 550,000 customers across a service territory that includes Philadelphia County and portions of Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, and York counties. The company is a subsidiary of Exelon Corporation, one of the largest utility holding companies in the United States, and it operates as a transmission and distribution business rather than a power generator.

History and Background

PECO traces its origins to the late nineteenth century, when several small electric and gas companies competed to light Philadelphia's streets, homes, and factories. The Philadelphia Electric Company was incorporated in 1899 and consolidated many of those early ventures over the following decades, expanding service well beyond the city limits into the surrounding counties. Gas service in Philadelphia has an even longer lineage, dating to the Philadelphia Gas Works system established in the 1830s, and PECO's gas operations serve the suburban counties outside the city.

The company adopted the shortened PECO Energy name in the 1990s, and in 2000 it merged with Unicom, the parent of Chicago's Commonwealth Edison, to form Exelon. Under that structure, PECO retained its identity and local operations while power generation was separated from delivery, a change driven by Pennsylvania's electricity restructuring law. That law also allows customers in the territory to shop for a competitive electric generation supplier while PECO continues to maintain the wires, respond to outages, read meters, and issue bills.

Services

The core of the business is delivery: maintaining the poles, wires, substations, transformers, gas mains, and service lines that carry energy to homes and businesses. Beyond that infrastructure work, PECO handles a broad range of everyday customer transactions.

• Starting, stopping, and transferring electric and natural gas service
• Billing, payment arrangements, and budget billing that levels seasonal swings
• Outage reporting and restoration status updates, including text and email alerts
• Meter reading, meter exchanges, and smart meter data access
• Gas leak and downed wire emergency response, available around the clock
• New construction service requests, load additions, and temporary construction power
• Interconnection for rooftop solar and other customer-owned generation, including net metering
• Electric vehicle charging programs and guidance for residential and commercial charger installation

Emergency calls are treated separately from routine account matters. Customers who smell gas or encounter a downed line are directed to leave the area and call immediately rather than use online tools.

Assistance and Efficiency Programs

PECO administers several income-qualified and hardship programs, many of them mandated or supported by the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission. These include the Customer Assistance Program, which sets reduced monthly payments based on household income and size; LIHEAP grant coordination with the state; the Matching Energy Assistance Fund, which can retire past-due balances; and the Low Income Usage Reduction Program, which provides free weatherization measures such as insulation, air sealing, and appliance replacement for eligible households. Medical certificates and protections for seniors and households with infants are also part of the framework the company works within.

On the efficiency side, PECO offers rebates on high-efficiency appliances, HVAC equipment, and water heaters, along with LED discounts, home energy assessments, appliance recycling pickup, and business-focused incentives for lighting, refrigeration, and equipment upgrades. Online energy use tracking tied to smart meter data lets customers see consumption patterns by day and hour, which is often the practical starting point for reducing a bill.

The Market Street Building

The headquarters at 2301 Market Street is a recognizable fixture on the western edge of Center City, near 23rd Street and within walking distance of 30th Street Station and several SEPTA regional rail and subway connections. The building is known locally for its LED crown display, which has been used for public messages and seasonal animations visible across the Schuylkill River.

The structure also carries one of the larger green roofs in Philadelphia, a vegetated installation that captures stormwater before it reaches the combined sewer system and reduces heat absorption on the upper floors. The roof has periodically been opened for public tours, and interested visitors should check current scheduling in advance since availability changes. Security screening is in place at the entrance, so visitors should plan for identification checks.

Visiting and Accessibility

The customer service center at the headquarters handles in-person account matters, payments, service restorations, and assistance program applications. For customers whose situations are difficult to resolve remotely, such as identity verification, landlord and tenant transfers, or urgent restoration, the walk-in option often moves faster than other channels.

• Wheelchair accessible entrance
• Wheelchair accessible parking lot
• Onsite services available

Four J1772 Level 2 charging connectors rated at 7 kW are available on site for electric vehicle drivers. J1772 is the standard AC connector used by most non-Tesla EVs sold in North America, and Tesla vehicles can use it with an adapter. At 7 kW, these are slow chargers suited to longer stops rather than quick top-ups, typically adding roughly 20 to 25 miles of range per hour depending on the vehicle.

Storm Response and Mutual Assistance

Restoration work is a visible part of the company's operations, particularly during nor'easters, summer thunderstorms, and hurricane remnants that move up the mid-Atlantic. PECO participates in the mutual assistance network that utilities across the country use to share line crews during major events, sending Pennsylvania crews to hard-hit states and receiving outside help when local damage is extensive. During large outages, the company publishes an online outage map with estimated restoration times and prioritizes hospitals, emergency services, and circuits serving the largest numbers of customers.

Practical Notes

Customers should record their account number for faster service, and those moving within the territory can usually transfer service without a new deposit. Payment options include online, by phone, by mail, automatic bank draft, and at authorized walk-in payment locations throughout the region. Anyone contacted unexpectedly and pressured for immediate payment should verify through the official phone number, since utility impersonation scams are common in the Philadelphia area.