Competitive Energy Switching Rates Continue to Rise along the East Coast

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.
 
New York State saw an increase in the total percentage of load serviced by a competitive supplier from 42.9 percent in January to 48.2 percent in April. Customer shopping also increased in the region, with 19.2 percent of customers choosing a competitive power supplier, up 0.4 percent from January.
 
Shopping in the Mid-Atlantic region also remained strong. Competitive retailers in the Washington, D.C. market continued to add customers to a new total of 4,202 shoppers in a single year, which increased the total share of accounts from 4.1% in April 2009 to 6.1% in April 2010. Delaware’s competitive power market held steady, with 18 marketers serving 4.5 percent of the total load.
 
Further north, markets in Connecticut, Maine and Rhode Island continued to increase the number of consumers shopping for energy suppliers. In Rhode Island, energy shopping broke the 30 percent barrier for the first time in 2010 during the month of April –the second month of growth in a row. Connecticut customers, already taking advantage of competition’s benefits, pushed retail energy shopping levels up even higher from 31 percent to 32.5 percent of the market in July. Maine’s retail power market grew in most segments for a total increase of around one percent from February to March, and two of the state’s three investor-owned utilities added new customers.  

These numbers are yet more evidence that our nation’s well-structured competitive electricity markets are providing competitive choices among energy market participants and empowering customers to shop for the best deals.

Joel Malina | September 2, 2010