Power supplier

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.
 

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.
 

Lower-cost electricity options in Western Pennsylvania are “the kind of significant savings envisioned by competition’s crusaders” a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette columnist writes in a recent column. The columnist’s effort to explain the competitive electricity market to consumers deserves applause.
 
But the relationship between the region’s power distribution utility and the competitive power supplier who offered the columnist less expensive electricity was confused in the article, and should be put in proper context.
 

The percentage of customers shopping for alternative energy suppliers has grown in four key restructured markets, according to recently released data from state regulators.
 
These new numbers compiled from earlier this year, combined with “astounding” shopping rates in Pennsylvania’s PPL Electric Utilities service territory, are the latest evidence of competition delivering lower-cost competitively priced electricity to consumers.
 

Competitive electricity markets unlock the innovative solutions required to meet America’s energy needs and environmental objectives, said experts at a COMPETE Coalition panel discussion event. Unless markets are opened up to competition, the nation’s energy system cannot reach its full potential.

Competitive markets promote competition among power suppliers to deliver the best possible service to attract and retain customers. Comparatively, in monopoly-protected states, incumbent power providers have no incentive to innovate because ratepayers are captive to their monopoly utility and power suppliers are guaranteed recovery of their costs plus a profit.

The benefits keep accruing for Texas as the state’s competitive electricity market continues to develop. Fast on the heels of a recent study that found Texas energy rates have fallen, news about the abundance of power suppliers and spread of solar energy underscore the fact that competition is having a positive impact on consumers.

Customers in the Mid-Atlantic region have recently seen several rate reductions as a result of competition, and this week businesses in Delaware experienced firsthand the benefits of choice in the electric market. On Wednesday, members of the Delaware State Chamber of Commerce announced they had secured a long-term electricity contract nearly 15 percent below their default rate, or the standard rate offered by their existing power supplier.

More than 30 individual businesses banded together to shop for competitive energy prices within the PJM Interconnection market, resulting in welcomed cost savings during a period of economic downturn.