Michigan

Business owners in Michigan are becoming more active in their efforts to convince state officials to lift the artificial monopoly barriers that prohibit their ability to enjoy electric lower costs and the ability to shop for their electricity supplies. They’ve created a YouTube channel to use social media to help Michigan policy makers understand how the state’s economy and jobs are at risk from continued monopoly protections for the state’s electricity utility companies.
 
In one YouTube video, Bill Zehnder, owner of the Bavarian Inn in Frankenmuth, Mich., complains about the inequity of being barred from shopping for lower-cost electricity while a competing business across the street was able to do so before the state-sanctioned 10 percent limit on competition kicked in.
 

Across the country, residents and businesses are continuing to exercise their ability to choose their electricity provider. Electricity shopping in competitive markets ensures providers are more innovative and efficient in their efforts to attract customers. As a result, consumers have access to the highest quality service at the most competitive prices. 
 

The number of customers in Michigan choosing their power supplier increased 38 percent over last year, according to the Michigan Public Service Commission’s (MPSC) annual report on electric competition released on Tuesday. By the end of 2010, more than 8,500 businesses and residents actively selected their electricity supplier. As a result, they are now enjoying numerous benefits, from competitive rates to more control over their daily energy usage. However, due the state’s capping of choice at 10 percent of the electricity load – and the cap was quickly reached in 2010 – many customers have been left with no opportunity to explore the market and choose a competitive supplier.
 

A recent report forecasts rapid growth in jobs among the solar industry, and predicts competitive market states will lead the way in growing green jobs through clean energy innovation. The National Solar Jobs Census 2010 forecasts 24,000 net new jobs will be created over the next twelve months, a 26 percent increase over the 93,000 currently employed.
 

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.
 

The movement to restore Michigan’s competitive electricity market is growing, with state legislators and businesses taking action in the fight to roll back a poorly conceived statewide cap on competition. 
 

California recently opened up an additional portion of the state’s retail power market to competitive power supply via a process where interested parties submitted their names for consideration. It was an overwhelming success – the allotted opportunity for competitive power supply was met in less than a minute. The pent-up demand for competition far outstripped available capacity and many consumers were denied the ability to shop for lower-cost electricity.
 

Legislators in Michigan have stood up for their constituents by introducing legislation to ease limitations on the number of consumers in the state who can purchase power from competitive power suppliers. The bipartisan companion bills introduced by Senator Wayne Kuipers and Representative Roy Schmidt would raise the state’s limit on retail choice from 10 percent to 25 percent of the utility’s total electricity demand.

This legislation comes on the heels of a petition by scores of Michigan businesses, including many COMPETE members, to lift the limitation on electricity choice.

Innovation and competition will play an increasingly larger role in U.S. electricity markets, predicted Chris Weston, CEO of Direct Energy. Weston kicked off KEMA’s 21^st Executive Forum with an energizing keynote address on the future of retail electricity competition in North America.

Weston comes to the U.S. market from the United Kingdom, bringing a fresh perspective to our domestic competition discussion by comparing and contrasting the U.K.’s competitive market system with ours. Personally, I have been active in the U.K.’s competitive market for the past three years and can attest to its development and the sense that the British energy market is five to seven years ahead of U.S. markets.