CHICAGO – The Illinois Commerce Commission’s Office of Retail Market Development (ORMD) released its ninth annual report to the General Assembly and Governor today.
The report describes the competitive retail electric market in Illinois and is a requirement of the Retail Electric Competition Act of 2006. It details the specific accomplishments achieved by the ORMD in promoting retail competition.
“The retail electric market is very dynamic, especially in the residential and small commercial customer areas” said Torsten Clausen, director of the ICC’s ORMD. “The annual reporting allows us to track the changes in the market and analyze the development of competition in the retail electric market.”
Nearly 85% of the non-residential (commercial and industrial) power usage in the ComEd and Ameren service territories were served by alternative retail electric suppliers (ARES). Even in the smallest commercial customer class, close to 60% of the electricity continues to be provided by an ARES (listed in pages 6-10 of the report).
Slightly over 40% of the residential customers in ComEd’s service territory have switched to an ARES, down from about 61% a year earlier. In the Ameren Illinois service territory, approximately 634,000 residential customers receive power from an ARES in May 2016, up from 610,000 customers in May 2015. This is approximately 60% of the residential customers in the Ameren Illinois rate zones (page 23 of the report).
The last year saw some growth in the number of ARES. As of May 2016, 57 ARES offer service to residential customers across the state, which is 12 more than a year earlier, with 25 suppliers offering residential customers a choice for their electric supply in the Ameren Illinois service territory. Of the residential service offerings in the ComEd service territory, 78% were fixed rate offers and 17% were variable rate offers (page 39 of the report).
The report details additional measures the ORMD has taken to improve the development of an effective, competitive retail electric market, including the initiation of a rulemaking addressing ARES obligations when marketing to residential and small commercial customers.
To read the full report visit https://www.icc.illinois.gov/reports/report.aspx?rt=22.
