RESA Publishes Competitive & Monopoly Price Trends Based on Most Recent EIA Data
Association Announces Upward Trends in Shopping Activity and Savings for All Sectors
(Harrisburg, PA) September 27, 2021 – The Retail Energy Supply Association (RESA), the nation’s leading trade association representing competitive retail energy suppliers, released 2020 data based on the latest figures collected by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).
The EIA data shows that over the past 10 years (2010 to 2020), competitive residential retail energy use has nearly doubled and now serves almost 16 million customers nationwide. Commercial and industrial energy use also increased by 91% and now serves more than three million customers. In this same period, the average energy pricing for all sectors in monopoly states increased 17.1%, while in competitive jurisdictions the average pricing decreased by 4%.
“The latest RESA data confirms that everyone wins in a competitive energy market,” said Tracy McCormick, executive director of RESA. “In a choice market, residents, businesses and industrial customers can all save money by shopping for their energy needs. RESA’s data shows that competitive markets do benefit all customers.”
In 2020, the data shows that customers in monopoly jurisdictions paid 20.5% more than their counterparts in competitive states. Over the past 12 years, all sectors in monopoly states could have saved half a trillion dollars ($503B) if they had the option to choose their own energy providers. By major customer class, the savings in the monopoly states would have cumulatively been $167.2 billion for residential customers, $208 billion for commercial customers and $125.4 billion for industrial customers. The 14 competitive states and jurisdictions saved an estimated $343B during this time. These data points highlight the impact of cost savings that competitive energy markets enjoy.
The price performance across all sectors supports the effectiveness of competitive energy markets. From 2008 to 2020, all sector pricing in competitive markets decreased by 7.4%, while monopoly markets increased prices by 21.1% for all customers.
“This data demonstrates the importance of energy choice for consumers and businesses,” says RESA’s president, Gretchen Fuhr. “Not only does energy choice encourage competitive pricing and cost savings, it also helps drive industry innovation, as well as increased availability and adoption of green products.”
More businesses are realizing the benefits and cost savings of competitive energy markets, with 87% choosing non-utility supply in 2020 alone. This upward trend in shopping activity has been observed for more than a decade due to competitive markets’ superior service and pricing.
To learn more about RESA and the benefits of energy choice visit https://www.resausa.org.
ABOUT RESA
The Retail Energy Supply Association is a broad and diverse group of retail energy suppliers who share the common vision that competitive retail energy markets deliver a more efficient, customer-oriented outcome than a regulated utility structure. RESA is devoted to working with all stakeholders to promote vibrant and sustainable competitive retail energy markets for residential, commercial and industrial consumers. For more information visit: www.resausa.org. Follow RESA on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter.
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MEDIA CONTACTS:
Stacey Gaswirth, 214.213.4675, stacey@thepowergroup.com