Maine

Consumers drove the percentage of electricity purchased from competitive suppliers higher in multiple states over the summer and fall, according to recent state data reported inRestructuring Today. This trend mirrors the growth of competitive markets detailed in COMPETE’s recent study of switching rates, which found the volume of electricity sales by competitive suppliers has doubled since 2003.
 

Maine’s competitive electricity market is thriving, evidenced by several recently announced economic and environmental initiatives creating benefits for the state’s consumers.
 

The upward trend of shopping for alternative energy suppliers continued rising in several states this summer, pushing overall numbers higher and bringing competitively priced electricity to even more customers. The new switching numbers come from recently released state data and were highlighted in Restructuring Today.
 

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 percentage of retail electricity customers switching to competitive energy suppliers increased in the first quarter of 2010, according to new state-level data compiled by Restructuring Today. 
 
Reports from Ohio, Connecticut, and Maine combined with similar growth in four other key markets across the country highlight how competitive markets are delivering lower-cost, competitively priced electricity to consumers.
 

The case for competitive markets providing tangible economic and environmental benefits gets more compelling with each passing day. The latest data comes from the three organized markets that cover the Northeastern United States – PJM Interconnection, NYISO, and ISO-NE.

Wholesale energy prices fell 45.1 percent across the PJM Interconnection, which covers 13 states and Washington, D.C., PJM Independent Market Monitor says in the 2009 State of the Market Report. This is the lowest annual average price since 2002. In PJM’s most recent capacity auction, 7,050 megawatts (MW) of demand resource offers cleared the auction – equivalent to the capacity of six to eight base load power plants. While the news across PJM is positive, two states in particular stand out for the strength of their markets.