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Annual Report on the State of Electric Competition
Connecticut – Electric
The Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority submitted to the Connecticut Legislature its Annual Report on the State of Electric Competition (Long Decision template with disclaimer (state.ct.us)). The report includes various details and statistics on customer complaints, residential and business standard offer service rates and the number of suppliers and aggregators operating within the state. In 2022, Connecticut had 34 electric suppliers and aggregators that were serving approximately 170,000 customers (10 percent of all electric distribution company customers) and they accounted for roughly 39 percent of all electricity sales.
Energy Information Administration
National – Natural Gas
The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported that in 2022 U.S. natural gas production grew by 4 percent, 4.9 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) (U.S. Energy Information Administration – EIA – Independent Statistics and Analysis). The Appalachia region in the Northeast produced more natural gas than any other U.S. region, accounting for 29 percent of U.S. gross natural gas withdrawals. Even as Appalachia remained the most productive U.S. natural gas-producing region, its growth has been slowing because sufficient pipeline takeaway capacity is not available to transport more natural gas as there were no new major pipeline capacity additions from the Northeast region that came online in 2022. At the same time, the least U.S. interstate natural gas pipeline capacity on record, 897 million cubic feet per day (Mcf/d), was added in 2022 stemming from five projects. This is the least interstate natural gas pipeline capacity added since the EIA began collecting this data in 1995. There are two primary reasons for this: (1) there was more growth in intrastate capacity – capacity additions to intrastate pipelines – and to existing FERC-administered interstate pipelines as expansions that increased intrastate capacity in 2022; and (2) there was less overall capital expenditure by oil and natural gas companies.
Annual Report on Electric Competition
Michigan – Electric
The Michigan Public Service Commission issued its annual report on electric competition (2022 Status of Electric Competition in Michigan). Michigan legislation restricts that no more than 10 percent of an electric utility’s average sales for the preceding calendar year may take service from an alternative electric supplier. While participation by residential customers continues to be non-existent, some highlights include the following: (1) There were approximately 5,760 customers participating in the electric choice programs, down about 3 percent from the prior year, and this represents approximately 2,138 megawatts of electric demand, which is a slight decrease from 2021. (2) As of December 2022, an additional 6,200 customers remained in a queue to take service from an alternative supplier. (3) The electric choice participation remained around 10 percent for each utility. (4) Every Michigan licensed supplier is now subject to capacity demonstration and state reliability mechanism provisions requiring that they have enough resources to serve customers four years forward and if they do not, they are subject to a Commission-approved capacity charge. (5) There are 21 licensed alternative suppliers with eight actively serving customers in the state.
Iroquois ExC Project
Northeast – Natural Gas
Iroquois Gas Transmission System, LP is proposing a compression only enhancement of its existing natural gas delivery system to receive an additional 125 million cubic feet per day (Mcf/d) of natural gas at Iroquois’ interconnect with a Canadian mainline in Waddington, NY for redelivery to New York utilities (ExC Project | Iroquois Gas). All new facilities would be constructed within Iroquois' existing compressor station properties with no new pipeline additions proposed as part of the project. This includes the addition of compression and associated gas cooling at existing Iroquois compressor station sites. If approved, the project will supply an additional 125 Mcf/d of natural gas for New York City, Consolidated Edison Company of New York, and National Grid, which serves much of Columbia County. Iroquois hopes to obtain the air permits and break ground on the project by spring 2023.
Robust Competitive Choice Activity
Ohio – Electric & Natural Gas
The Ohio Public Utilities Commission hosts interactive dashboards that provide historical and current customer choice information on its website (Ohio customer choice activity | Public Utilities Commission of Ohio). Electric choice activity data is available by year and by utility; and natural gas choice activity is available by year, utility, and customer class. This shows very robust competitive supplier activity in Ohio in 2022.
Exploring Time of Use Rates for Standard Offer Service
Maine – Electric
The Maine Public Utilities Commission is exploring whether it may be in the public interest to offer standard offer service (SOS) time-of-use (TOU) rates to all customer classes in the service territories of Central Maine Power and Versant Power service territories (Case Details (maine.gov)). Currently, standard offer service providers are selected by the Commission following a competitive bidding process solicitation resulting in a standard offer service rate for each calendar year (January 1st to December 31st). SOS prices for the residential and small non-residential standard offer classes must be an amount per kilowatt-hour that does not vary by a customer’s usage level, or by month or time of day. The Maine Commission is exploring whether it may be in the public interest to offer time-of-use rates to all customer classes in those service territories.
Pushing for Partial Deregulation
Iowa – Electric
There is discussion taking place in the Iowa State Legislature where the state's largest power users are seeking to partially deregulate Iowa’s electricity market. The impetus comes from the Iowa Economic Alliance, comprised of the state's largest energy customers. After seeing energy prices increase dramatically – over 200 percent between 2021 and 2022 – members want to be able to break away from MidAmerican Energy and Alliant Energy, the state's major utilities, and buy power directly. Many of the member companies have operations in deregulated states and are large enough and sophisticated enough to get better rates buying their own power, said Louie Ervin, president of Latham, Ervin, Vognsen & Associates, an energy consulting firm that is advising the Iowa Economic Alliance.
Emission Reduction Plans
New Jersey – Natural Gas
The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities has started a proceeding to engage with stakeholders concerning the development of natural gas distribution utility plans to reduce emissions from the natural gas sector to levels that are consistent with achieving the State’s 50 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions below 2006 levels by the year 2030. The Board’s action is a result of Governor Murphy’s Executive Order 317 (Office of the Governor | Governor Murphy Announces Comprehensive Set of Initiatives to Combat Climate Change and Power the “Next New Jersey” (nj.gov)) requiring the Board of Public Utilities to develop recommendations for how the natural gas industry can best meet these goals within 18 months.
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