Houston: Consumers in areas of North America that have opened their electricity markets to retail competition have seen a surge in product and service innovations compared with consumers in areas where electricity remains a commodity delivered by monopoly providers, according to the Annual Baseline Assessment of Choice in Canada and the United States (ABACCUS) released December 17 by Distributed Energy Financial Group LLC (DEFG), a management consulting firm specializing in energy and helping clients better connect with customers.
“Retail electricity competition grew in 2012 at an even more aggressive pace than in 2011. Competition has prompted retail energy providers to deliver lower prices and a greater number of innovative energy offers for consumers. The overall results include record numbers of customer engagement and a better alignment of customers with the services they prefer. For commercial and industrial customers, retail competition also continues to mean better global competitiveness,” said Nat Treadway, DEFG managing partner and lead author of the report.
The ABACCUS report identifies about a dozen areas of North America that have experienced particularly noteworthy efforts to deliver retail competition. Texas is recognized as the competitive retail market leader for the sixth consecutive year. New York, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Maryland, and the province of Alberta are also acknowledged for their policies that foster choice for electricity customers. These areas have vibrant markets with numerous retail energy suppliers and numerous service choices for customers of all sizes, the authors say.
The ABACCUS report also identifies several jurisdictions in North America for their efforts to further enhance retail competition in 2012 and beyond. Alberta, Pennsylvania, Illinois, and Ohio all made noticeable advancements during the year, it says.
DEFG develops ABACCUS scores and rankings based on data available in the market. ABACCUS provides “a baseline for building a properly functioning competitive energy market.” Copies of the full report are available at www.defgllc.com.