What People Are Saying About Electricity Competition
Competition Benefits Customers
“Competitive organized energy markets allow Safeway to save tens of millions of dollars each year. These are savings that can be reinvested in the price we charge for our goods and services as well as key corporate initiatives like our Greenhouse Gas Reduction and Sustainability Program – all of which benefit our customers, employees, investors and the communities we serve.”
George Waidelich, Vice President, Energy Operations, Safeway (commercial food and drug retailer with 1,738 stores across the U.S. and Canada)
“Competitive markets produce price transparency that provides end-use consumers more choices than those from the vertically integrated energy delivery construct. Competitive markets not only provide consumers the options that can mitigate price volatility but those markets also inherently improve reliability through regional transmission organizations on the supply-side and increase efficiency and technology options on the demand-side. Make no mistake about it. Competitive electricity markets are working.”
Steve Elsea, Director of Energy Services, Leggett & Platt, Inc. (diversified manufacturing company with over 180 facilities in the U.S.)
Competition Promotes Renewables
“…[P]roperly structured regional wholesale electricity markets with independent regional transmission operators can provide net benefits to customers and promote critical national goals related to fuel diversity, energy security, and environmental protection. Well-structured regional wholesale electricity markets operated independently allow far greater amounts of renewable energy and demand response resources to be integrated into the nation’s electric grid…” - Letter to FERC from the American Wind Energy Association, Natural Resources Defense Council, and others. Link to letter.
“Competitive electricity markets provide two key advantages to wind energy development; clear prices to value the energy produced with the wind and a diverse grid of resources that can fill in the gaps during periods of little wind. Competitive markets offer the best environments in the US today for the further development of renewable energy resources such as wind."
Jeffrey M. Bladen, Vice President, Market Planning & Strategy, Gamesa Energy USA
Competition Promotes Demand Response
“The transparency and pricing mechanisms found in competitive markets uniquely benefit the growth of demand response.”
Dr. Eric C. Woychik, Vice President, Regulatory Affairs, Comverge, Inc.
Competition Complements Market Approaches to Climate Change
“Competitive markets and climate change legislation go hand in hand. Competitive markets allow for lower barriers to innovation and the proper investment discipline needed to lead the way towards our energy future.”
John E. Shelk, President and CEO, Electric Power Supply Association
Competition Alleviates Transmission Congestion
“When you have Obama and T. Boone Pickens saying the same thing, then you've got the right focus. Congestion is the problem, but competitive markets can address and defeat it.”
Larry Bruneel, Vice President - Federal Affairs, ITC Holdings, Inc.
Competition Empowers Consumers
“Competitive markets yield transparent price signals that convey critical information to consumers and investors who can then respond to market forces. Research has shown that competitive electricity markets do provide more liquidity and better price signals, as well as better incentives for cost minimization."
Dr. Catherine D. Wolfram, Associate Professor of Business Administration, Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley
