Retail Competition News
Connecticut Light & Power Reports December Customer Migration Data
The Connecticut Light & Power recently released its customer switching data for the month of December.
United Illuminating Reports December Customer Migration Data
The United Illuminating (UI) Company recently released its customer switching data for the month of December.
PA PUC Expands Office of Competitive Market Oversight to Electric Industry
The Pennsylvania Public Utilities Commission (PUC) has expanded its Office of Competitive Market Oversight (OCMO), previously focused on the natural gas industry, to serve as the Commission's electric retail choice ombudsman. Specifically, OCMO will be responsible for responding to questions from electric generation suppliers (EGSs), monitoring competitive market complaints, and facilitating informal dispute resolution between default service providers and EGSs.
In performing these functions, OCMO will assume only an advisory and informal mediation role. OCMO plans to hold periodic conference calls or meetings to identify and resolve issues that may be hindering the development or proper functioning of the electric retail market. The expanded OCMO is to be headed by Karen Moury, the PUC's Director of Operations, who has an extensive background in retail issues.
Click here to read the secretarial letter for this docket.
ERRC Releases Annual Baseline Assessment of Choice in Canada and the United States Report
The Energy Retailer Research Consortium (ERRC), an independent research organization, has analyzed electric markets and determined that well-designed and structured electric markets foster the introduction of new product offerings and services not available in traditional electric markets.
According to the Annual Baseline Assessment of Choice in Canada and the United States report (ABACCUS), a significant variety of products and services is available today, including hourly energy prices, indexed energy prices, multi-year contracts, green or renewable products, the bundling of maintenance services with electricity purchases, the development of on-site power generation, premium power quality services, backup power and reliability services, energy efficiency services and opportunities for customers to participate in bulk power markets. The ABACCUS “report card” identifies the U.S. states and Canadian provinces that rank highly with respect to several dozen criteria.
Click here for the press release.
Click here for the full report.
Competitive ISO/RTO Regions Promote Efficient, Affordable, and Clean Energy
The Independent System Operator/Regional Transmission Organization (ISO/RTO) Council, which represents the 10 independent electric grid operators in North America, released its 2009 State of the Markets Report. Currently, two-thirds of the population of the United States is served by organized wholesale electricity markets run by ISOs or RTOs, which ensure that wholesale power markets in their regions operate efficiently, openly, and support the reliability of the bulk power system. Recent expansions of the Midwest Independent System Operator and the Southwest Power Pool in the last year have further highlighted the benefits of participation in independently-administered, organized wholesale power markets.
The Council's most recent report concluded that competitive power markets have reduced the cost of electric power relative to the cost that would otherwise have been incurred, incentivized improved generator availability, and facilitated investments in new, more efficient generating units. Additionally, regions served by ISOs and RTOs have nurtured increased development of renewable resources and have seen an increase in demand response resources. ISOs, RTOs, and the competitive wholesale power markets in which they operate continue to provide consumers with efficient, clean, and affordable electricity.
Click here to read the full release from the ISO/RTO Council.
Click here to read the ISO/RTO Council’s State of the Markets Report.
Rhode Island Power Shopping Remains Robust
Power shopping in Rhode Island slipped a bit in July with sales from retail marketers finishing at 25.7 percent of the market, down slightly from 26.8 percent in June.
The latest customer migration statistics from National Grid, an electric distribution company, are generally positive. Though sales fell 1.1 percent in July, the mark is still an improvement from earlier in the year when shopping was at 20.5 pecent in February and 19.7 percent in March.
Overall, accounts served by marketers grew by 520 new shoppers from June to July, with share of accounts improving, moving up 0.1 percent to finish at 1.5 percent.
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