According to a recent report from the Public Utility Commission, 1,190,077 Pennsylvanians have already switched electricity suppliers. That’s roughly 50 percent of electricity customers with the majority of those shopping around in the industrial sector.
The PUC has been compiling weekly stats due to investigations into the retail electricity markets of Pennsylvania after protests were filed against the merger of Allegheny Energy and FirstEnergy Corp. One of the electricity suppliers, Direct Energy, challenged the merger citing loss of competition among other reasons.
In the end, the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission approved the deal, valued at $4.7 billion, but tacked on a few additional protections—thus leading to the statewide investigations.
The PUC should consider other ways to measure whether the retail market is functioning properly and not rely on mere numbers alone according to utilities and consumer advocates.
Pennsylvania’s Small Business Advocate William Lloyd put it this way:
“The success or failure of retail competition should be measured by whether customers have a reasonable opportunity to shop and not by how many customers take advantage of that opportunity.”
A recent company survey by Duquesne Light showed that 91 percent of residential customers know they have the power to choose electricity suppliers. Additionally, two-thirds are considering it and the rest either haven’t switched or decided they didn’t want to.
For more information on this topic and how you can switch to the right electricity supplier for your business, call Live Energy today at 877-810-7700. With more than a decade of solid energy brokerage experience, and all the right tools at your disposal, we can help you make the right choice.
