Blog entry May 2010

Organized competitive markets have added about 4,900 megawatts (MW) in installed wind energy generation resources over the past year, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) staff concluded in the Summer 2010 Energy Market and Reliability Assessment. Data from the North American Electric Reliability Corporation's summer assessment finds overall wind capacity is up about 6,940 MW, or 25 percent, since summer 2009 – bringing total national wind capacity to 34 GW.

Consumers scored a big victory this week when Connecticut Gov. Jodi Rell vetoed legislation that would have rolled back important competitive reforms in the state’s electricity industry. “Electric competition has finally taken hold and ratepayers have begun to realize millions of dollars in savings each year,” Gov. Rell observed in her veto statement on Senate Bill 493. The bill was passed in the dead of night in the waning hours of a legislative session with limited input from stakeholders, threatening the state’s businesses and homeowners with higher energy rates.

Retail electricity sales in competitive markets will grow nearly 25 percent over the next two years, pushing up competitive power sales to account for 16 percent of all U.S. retail power by 2011, says energy industry analyst KEMA.

This projected growth follows a banner year for competition in 2009, when the amount of competitive buying from retail power suppliers reached 483 terawatt-hours (TWh). A TWh is equal to 1 million megawatt-hours. KEMA examined competitive retail power markets in 68 utility territories, and forecast more than half of the projected growth from Pennsylvania and Ohio.

Another of the nation’s grid operators has forecast ample power supplies for this summer’s peak energy demand season. Following similar announcements by several other large grid operators, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) predicted it will have 21.4 percent more power generation capacity than the forecast peak, even though the state is expected to break its own power use record this summer.

Innovative new technologies to reduce energy demand, empower customers to make smart energy decisions and reduce greenhouse gas emissions were on display this week at the “Clean Technology Showcase.” Nearly two dozen companies showcased solutions to improve energy efficiency and help consumers manage their energy usage.

COMPETE Coalition members Johnson Controls, Current Group, and EnerNOC exhibited alongside information technology powerhouses Intel, Google and Microsoft; international telecommunications companies Ericsson and Alcatel-Lucent; and PJM Interconnection, the world’s largest grid operator.

Illinois’ competitive electricity market is offering environmental and economic benefits to more consumers than ever before. Clean wind power is thriving in the state’s competitive market (and beyond), and an entire new region of the state’s retail customers is now able to obtain the lowest-cost competitive energy.

Illinois has become one of the nation’s most successful markets for wind power, and this success has begun to spill into neighboring markets. Already ranked seventh nationally in installed wind power capacity with 1,547 megawatts (MW), the state added 632 of new capacity in 2009, fifth most across the country. The state’s 13 wind farms and 1,000 turbines now power a half-million homes.

The economic and environmental benefits keep coming for consumers in New York’s organized markets. Following recent news that prices fell 49 percent across the New York ISO (NYSIO) market, several new announcements reiterate that competition encourages the innovative solutions required to meet America’s electricity needs and environmental objectives.

Competition can transform electric service in America, just as it set the stage for revolutionary changes in the telecommunications industry. That was the message from a panel of experts at an Capitol Hill forum this week on the future of electricity. The NDN-sponsored event featured members of Congress, government officials and leaders from industry and the NGO community discussing NDN’s Electricity 2.0 report, which identified competition in electricity markets as a launching pad for technological innovations and renewable energy.

Three of the nation’s largest grid operators are forecasting adequate power supply for the high summer peak season due in large part to consumer participation in innovative demand response programs.

PJM Interconnection expects consumers will play a significant role in reducing this summer’s peak demand by six percent, or 8,525 megawatts –the equivalent of 10 large power plants. PJM, the regional transmission organization operating in 13 states and the District of Columbia, forecasts a peak demand of 135,750 megawatts this summer.

Forget the fact that electricity prices in New England’s market have fallen by nearly 50 percent. Advocates of a return to monopoly controls continue their efforts to handcuff electricity competition. Lawmakers in the Nutmeg state are pushing an 11^th-hour legislative proposal that will put Connecticut’s economy and energy consumers at risk of increased rates.

The legislation was introduced with no public hearing and only 24 hours for stakeholder review or input. If enacted by lawmakers, it would impede market entry by competitive power suppliers and force consumers to purchase power from a monopoly-protected provider.