Competitive Retail Power Markets Forecast to Grow

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.

These two states, expected to create 39 TWh of the 52 TWh of projected new retail sales, demonstrate how competition fosters innovation, clean energy solutions, and affordable energy. Pennsylvania, which unleashed “astounding” growth in competition when government-imposed rate caps expired in January 2010, expects an even greater influx of competition from power suppliers when additional rate caps expire at the end of this year.

“The U.S. competitive retail power market has quietly become enormous,” said Taff Tschamler, KEMA’s Director of Retail Energy. As this market grows larger, its benefits will only grow more profound for more and more consumers.

Joel Malina | May 26, 2010