Illinois Commerce Commission Reports Choice Is Well-Established in the State

In its sixth annual report to the Illinois Legislature and to the Governor, submitted in May, the Illinois Commerce Commission concluded: “Customer choice has become an integral part of the electric utility landscape in Illinois.”
 
According to the report, “Retail Electric Suppliers are now serving about 18% of all retail load in the State.  The termination of the mandatory transition period on January 1, 2007, moreover, may give a boost to competition, for at least two reasons.  First, the existing bundled retail rate freeze will expire and RESs may find it easier to compete against higher current market prices rather than bundled rates that were frozen in 1997.  Second, utilities will no longer be permitted to charge transition charges, which will provide additional savings opportunities for customers in the AmerenIP and ComEd service areas.”
  
A brief summary of switching activity during 2005 includes the following:
 
-- Almost 22,000 non-residential customers had switched from their incumbent utilities at the end of 2005.

-- About 4.5% of non-residential customers with a peak demand of less than one MW, representing, about 28% of customer load in that category had switched.

-- About 50% of customers with a peak demand of greater than one MW, representing 56% of customer load in the larger demand category, had switched.
 
The Commission reported that in 2005, 12 RESs sold power to retail customers, two more than in 2004.  Seven RESs were certified in 2005, and a total of 20 RESs have received certification.  One RES was certified to sell to residential customers.  RESs had sales in 2005 of about 24.8 million mWhs, representing 18.4% of all retail sales.