Illinois Commerce Commission’s Annual Report Shows Consumers Switching to Competitive Power Suppliers

In its sixth annual report, the Illinois Commerce Commission’s Office of Retail Market Development (ORMD) provided an update on the status of the state’s competitive electric market, which shows a second straight year of dramatic increases in the number of residential users who are switching to competitive power suppliers as well as concomitant increases in the cost savings enjoyed by consumers who make the switch. According to the report, as of May of this year, nearly three million residential customers across the state had elected to buy their power from a competitive supplier rather than remain as full service default supply customers on their regulated utility’s system. That compares to around 500,000 switching customers as of May 2012, which itself had been a significant increase from the fewer than 22,000 residential ratepayers that were availing themselves of the opportunity to shop as of the end of May in 2011. For more analysis, subscribe to URN. http://www.fortnightly.com/utility-regulatory-news-0