Electric rate

A new poll conducted on behalf of the Electric Competition for Michigan NOW! coalition shows strong sentiment among consumers to create greater customer choice in Michigan. The survey, conducted with 600 state residents, found 79 percent of those polled think homeowners and businesses should have the ability to select their electric company.
 

The Detroit News has endorsed the effort of state lawmakers to roll back Michigan’s cap on competition in an editorial urging that limits on competitive market access be lifted from 10 percent to 25 percent of a utility’s consumer demand. The bipartisan legislative proposal, introduced in both state legislative chambers in June, would revisit a 2008 law that bars the vast majority of Michigan’s consumer demand from choosing an alternative, competitively priced power supplier.
 

A recent Philadelphia Inquirer article shows that New Jersey’s competitive market is creating economic benefits for all electricity consumers, as evidenced by the entry of three new major power suppliers into the market resulting in an exponential growth in the number of customers who have switched to power suppliers.
 
While switching among the state’s commercial and industrial (C&I) customers has become common in the state, switching rates among residential customers has skyrocketed in the last year. According to the article, approximately 213 residential customers had switched to discount suppliers in 2009, but that number now stands at more than 16,000 – and the figure has doubled since June.

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.