Flash: First Choice Power Churn Remains Relatively Flat

First Choice Power reported this morning that it lost 1,400 customers from December 31, 2010 to March 31, 2011.

Customer count as of March 31, 2011 stood at 212,800, versus 214,200 as of December 31, 2010, and 221,400 a year ago.

The net loss of 1,400 customers compares to a loss of 1,100 from September 30, 2010 to December 31, 2010, and a loss of 800 customers from June 30, 2010 to September 30, 2010. However, the number is still about one-fourth of the churn seen in early 2010, such as the net loss of 5,300 customers from March 31, 2010 to June 30, 2010.

First Choice Power reported ongoing earnings of $7.6 million for Q1 2011, compared with ongoing earnings of $10.4 million in Q1 2010. A 3.4 percent increase in sales volumes, combined with lower bad-debt expense, was more than offset by lower customer prices, compared with last year. First Choice Power reduced its quarterly bad-debt expense 22.5 percent, from $5.8 million last year to $4.5 million in 2011.

Additional details on First Choice Power results announced this morning will follow Monday