Illinois Commerce Department releases report on competition in the retail electric market

The Illinois Commerce Commission’s Office of Retail Market Development released a report this week that looks at the state of the retail electric market in Illinois.

The report provides an overview of the current state of the market, including alternative retail electric suppliers’ (ARES) activity and customer switching trends. ARES served about 85 percent of the non-residential power usage in the ComEd and Ameren service territories.

Also, roughly 1.78 million residential customers were on ARES service, compared to approximately 1.77 million \in 2018 and only about 3 million customers five years ago. The number of residential ComEd customers receiving supply from an ARES decreased slightly while the number in the Ameren Illinois service territory went up slightly. Also, approximately 32 percent of residential customers received service from an ARES in the ComEd territory while about 60 percent of residential customers received service from an ARES in the Ameren Illinois territory.

Also, 2018 saw an increase in the number of active ARES. As of May 2019, there were 68 active ARES offering supply to residential customers in the ComEd service territory — up from 60 the previous year. Further, there were 29 ARES suppliers offering residential customers supply in the Ameren Illinois service territory – up two from a year earlier.

The ORMD report looks at ways to improve price transparency for residential and small commercial retail customers electric bills. It also examines the enforcement of enhanced consumer protection rules.