Progress for Consumers in Illinois’ Competitive Electricity Market

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.

In fact, wind power has been so successful in Illinois that it has begun exporting clean energy to neighboring non-competitive states. Last week, the monopoly Tennessee Valley Authority announced it had begun buying up to 300 MW of wind power from a central Illinois wind farm.

While competition’s environmental benefits are clear for the entire state, its economic benefits came into focus this month for a large number of the state’s retail energy consumers. COMPETE member BlueStar Energy entered the Northern Illinois region as an alternative energy supplier, providing low-cost electricity to homeowners.

The state’s residential market was opened to competition in 2002. About 75 percent of the commercial and industrial electricity demand is now purchased through alternative suppliers statewide, and as Illinois’ market continues to mature, price signals in the residential market are telling energy suppliers the time is right to expand their offerings.

Joel Malina | May 18, 2010