Following a frigid 2013-2014 that saw several thousand customers of competitive electricity suppliers complain to state regulators about high bills and other grievances, complaints fell 63 percent last year, according to a recent state report.
The Public Utilities Regulatory Authority, which has been required to monitor the state of electric competition since shortly after Connecticut deregulated its market in the late 1990s, said earlier this month that complaints about suppliers fell from 2,161 to 809 between 2014 and 2015.
While that’s good news for suppliers, it also comes as their market share has dwindled in recent years.
PURA said suppliers acquired customers at a steady clip between 2007 and 2012, thanks to higher-demand customers being switched to more volatile last-resort-service (LRS) prices. A decline in power generation prices that began in 2008 also made the competitive market more attractive for businesses and residents alike to sign up with a competitive supplier, PURA said.
In 2014, many customers felt the brunt of variable-rate electricity contracts, which fluctuate largely on the price of natural gas.
The situation pushed legislators to ban variable-rate contracts for residential customers last year.
PURA’s report lists supplier market share in both Eversource and United Illuminating territories.
The top supplier by customer count in Eversource territory as of Dec. 31 was Public Power LLC, with 47,505 residential and business customers.
In UI service territory, Direct Energy Services had the greatest market share, with 15,030 customers.
