California Pressed to Expand Competitive Energy Market

The COMPETE coalition reported on April 9 that it had joined with 20 stakeholders to encourage the California legislature to expand the state’s retail electricity market. Currently, the state puts severe caps on its competitive electricity market. This allows just a small fraction of customers to participate in the market, and the cap fills up within minutes of the time that the enrollment period begins, as Retail Energy Buyer reported in March.

The letter from COMPETE and a stakeholders group, which includes both customers and retail suppliers, urges legislators to support SB 286, a bill introduced this year by Senator Robert Hertzberg. The bill would allow the participation caps to increase over time for all commercial and industrial customers.