January 15, 2003—KEMA-XENERGY research has showed dramatic growth in US competitive electricity supply over the past 18 months, despite on-going energy industry woes. Since mid-2001, competitively priced electricity supply more than doubled. Customer market participation increased by about fifty percent, resulting in energy cost savings as high as 30 percent for some customers. Not only has customer activity increased, says KEMA-XENERGY, but retail providers are also becoming profitable.
KEMA-XENERGY found that an estimated 40,000 megawatts (MW) of peak electricity demand are currently being competitively supplied, about a 166 percent increase from an estimated 15,000 MW being supplied about 18 months ago. One MW is roughly equivalent to the amount of electricity used to power 1,000 homes.
Customer participation in competitive markets is also on the rise. KEMA-XENERGY reported that since about mid-2001, an additional 700,000 (or about 50 percent more) customers switched energy suppliers for a total of about 2.1 million participating customers. This market participation has resulted in significant customer benefits.
The Texas market leads the country both in terms of customer migration, new entrants and choice of competitive offers. Of the 40,000 MW switched in the competitive markets nationwide in 2002, Texas accounted for approximately 11,000 MW. By comparison, Illinois, California, New York and Ohio each accounted for over 3,000 MW. Texas customers have a wide diversity of offers and services to choose from and are spurring a rapidly growing renewable energy market.
For more information, contact KEMA XENERGY.
