FirstEnergy Solutions Reports Increased Direct Retail Sales

Increased competitive retail sales directly to large and mass markets customers by FirstEnergy Solutions, net of the impact from changed pricing versus the year-ago, led to a $164 million improvement in commodity margin during the fourth quarter of 2011, FirstEnergy said in reporting earnings.

During the fourth quarter, FirstEnergy Solutions' direct retail sales to large and medium customers increased by 4.5 million MWh, or 57%; and direct mass market retail sales increased by 632,000 MWh, or 419%.

Governmental aggregation sales increased 57,000 MWh, or 2%.

FirstEnergy said that FirstEnergy Solutions, "continues to successfully execute its retail strategy by gaining new customers in recently deregulated markets in Pennsylvania following the expiration of POLR obligations in December 2010. FES retail sales also grew significantly in Ohio and continue to expand in other markets, including Illinois, Michigan, New Jersey, and Maryland."

A breakdown of growth in direct retail sales by market and customer segment for the fourth quarter and full year, as well as comparisons of POLR and aggregation sales, is available here.

FirstEnergy's quarterly report includes an aggregate switching percent for the fourth quarter for each of its distribution companies, listed on page 15 of its report to investors. Although the data reflects an average for the quarter (rather than end of quarter statistics), and is not broken out by customer class, the data is of some utility given that the most recent Ohio migration data from PUCO is as of the third quarter.