A coalition led by Consumer Counsel Elin Katz is trying to kill off the state’s electricity-supplier market, at least for residential customers.
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A coalition led by Consumer Counsel Elin Katz is trying to kill off the state's electricity-supplier market, at least for residential customers.
Her logic is that some suppliers — which are third-party companies that buy and sell energy to residents and compete with utilities for the generation portion of ratepayer bills — continue to misrepresent themselves or otherwise mislead when they interact with potential customers.
And whether they've been duped, aren't paying attention, or simply don't understand how the market works, the hundreds of thousands of Connecticut customers using suppliers have shelled out approximately $200 million more than if they had just stuck with their utility for supply between 2015 and 2018, according to OCC data.
However, not everyone is paying extra.
For example, Avon resident Victor Neumann said he's been saving $600 a year on average by frequently shopping online for new supplier contracts.
“I jump all over the place with them,” said Neumann, 72, a retired Hartford educator who doesn't want to see his electricity savings evaporate.
Neumann said he knows there are bad apples in the supplier market, and he's happy Connecticut has been policing them, but he thinks that instead of banning suppliers, the state should better educate consumers about how to shop for rates and switch contracts.
“Teach a person to fish, don't throw his fish away,” he said.
Neumann said he uses nearly triple the electricity of an average residential customer because he bulk stores raw food in big freezers for the therapy dogs he raises, including a 150-pound Leonberger named Yulee.
As a result, it's imperative for him to try to shave electricity costs anyway possible.
He does it by visiting Energize CT's rate website every few days, scanning available offers from suppliers that don't charge an early termination penalty. That allows him to switch suppliers often, without taking a financial hit.
But, is it possible for the majority of consumers to have the time, energy and smarts Neumann deploys? Katz, who said she has talked to Neumann several times, said it's not, which is a key reason she's calling to disband third-party energy suppliers.
“Most consumers don't have his time to spend or the expertise,” Katz said. “If 70 percent of consumers are getting ripped off, and 30 percent save some, is that okay? To me, it's not.”
Meantime, energy suppliers have decried Katz's call to restrict their operations here.
It'll cost jobs and represent a step back toward utility monopsony, they said. In addition, they note that some supplier customers receive smart thermostats, larger amounts of clean energy and other perks that utility customers don't.
“Legislators aren't typically keen on laws that take people's choices away,” said Matt S. White, president of the Retail Energy Supply Association.
