Electricity Policy Blog

The percentage of customers shopping for alternative energy suppliers has grown in six restructured markets, according to recently released data from state regulators highlighted in Restructuring Today.
 
These new numbers compiled from earlier this year, combined with continued growth in regions across the nation, are the latest evidence competition is working by delivering economic benefits and competitively priced electricity options to consumers.
 

The independent market monitors for every Independent System Operator (ISO) and Regional Transmission Organization (RTO) in the country have once again found that organized markets are competitive, and provide economic benefits to consumers. The findings were based on detailed reports for 2009, and were highlighted by the Electric Power Supply Association.
 

Customer satisfaction with competition has never been higher in Texas, according to the third annual JD Power and Associates survey on customer satisfaction with retail power suppliers.
 
Retail customers reported increased satisfaction levels and high power supplier switching rates , thanks to a mix of innovative new energy programs, customer service, lower wholesale electricity prices and deals that will save Texas consumers millions of dollars over the next few years while helping to stimulate clean energy technology.
 

The movement to restore Michigan’s competitive electricity market is growing, with state legislators and businesses taking action in the fight to roll back a poorly conceived statewide cap on competition. 
 

President Obama recently signed into law a landmark financial regulatory reform bill that has implications for every business in the country. Reforms involving financial derivatives trading, among other things, and how companies manage their risks, were the focus of the energy and manufacturing industries. The legislation’s effects on electricity suppliers and customers, and thereby infrastructure investments and electricity prices, gained particular attention with key legislators recognizing the need to maintain financial risk-hedging tools for electricity providers.
 

New Jersey’s electricity market has experienced a recent influx of competitive power suppliers, benefiting both consumers and the environment. The state’s market has seen exponential growth in recent months – and consumers are jumping at the opportunity to competitively shop for their electricity supply.
 

A new staff report from Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) urges a full evaluation of the state’s electricity market given the benefits competition could offer the state’s consumers, economy and environment. The report, issued last week, comes as the ACC considers revising state rules to introduce competition to its power market.
 
Competition would create multiple economic benefits for Arizona consumers, according to ACC staff:
 

The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) Year in Review 2009 report detailed how despite the economic downturn installed solar power capacity climbed past 2,000 megawatts (MW), enough to power a city of 350,000 homes. The top two states in 2009 and cumulative installed capacity were states with competitive power markets.
 

A combination of hotter summers, an aging electrical grid and uneven adoption of smart grid technology has increased the need for electric infrastructure investment, according to a University of Minnesota research study cited by CNN reporter Thom Patterson.
 
COMPETE agrees significant investment is needed in our national grid to reach our nation’s sustainable energy goals and maintain electric reliability needs. But CNN missed an important opportunity to highlight how competitive electricity markets are helping ensure reliability and encourage innovation and investment while protecting consumers from the financial risk of poor or failed investment decisions.
 

Average wholesale electricity prices in the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) have once again dropped, providing even more benefits for consumers coping with the economic downturn, according to ERCOT’s 2009 State of the Market Report. Prices fell 56 percent from 2008’s average price to $34.03 per megawatt-hour (MWh), the lowest price experienced by any U.S. electricity market.