Deregulation - Basic information
Legislatures and the public utility commissions of many states have opened retail competition for electricity supply. The measures allow consumers of electricity to choose their supplier of electricity, (generation), while the delivery of the power, (transmission and distribution), will still be the responsibility of the incumbent, (regulated), power company.
The purpose of deregulation is to foster competition among electricity suppliers with the medium and long-term goal of combating the high prices maintained by government-sanctioned regional monopolies over the past decade. There are signs that deregulation of the electricity supply market is working as designed. For example, over the past 24 months there have been more applications to commence construction of power plants across the United States than there have been over the course of the past ten years combined.
When choosing a supplier, the single most important consideration to be aware of is that there are material differences between the various electricity supply products offered by competitive service providers and especially vs. the standard offering made by the incumbent utility from which you have purchased power historically. Some of these differences amount to matters of price, while other differences are much more complex, having to do with reliability of service, etc.
That’s why the Chamber has invested in understanding the opportunities to avoid the pitfalls associated with the changing market conditions in Ohio and we are prepared to help you exercise your power to choose a competitive electricity supplier in the most intelligent way possible – by pulling together our members to get the best rates possible in the market using a CRES.