Calif. Report Details Enrollments on Direct Access Denied due to Shopping Cap

Nearly 29,000 enrollment requests for direct access in California were denied service during the January 2012 enrollment period as a result of the direct access caps being reached, according to a report from the PUC.

The PUC's report also confirms, as originally reported by Matters, that the amount of direct access load available in the January 2012 enrollment period (generally for service starting in 2013) was fully subscribed in mere seconds.

"The results are compelling and incontrovertible," said Tim LoCascio, California State Chair for the Retail Energy Supply Association. "We've consistently seen that customer demand for competitive electricity supply options dramatically exceeds the limited amount permissible under the statutory cap. California electricity customers are being denied the right to choose competitive retail product offerings due to legal mandates that woefully fail to satisfy pent-up demand."

"Now that the cap has been fully subscribed, we know that demand for electric choice in California is both substantial and persistent," said Andrea Morrison, President of the Alliance for Retail Energy Markets. "Senate Bill 695 provided non-residential customers with very limited access to competitive suppliers. That was a step in the right direction, but as these results show it clearly did not go far enough in providing choice to California energy consumers. The cap is far too low and denies thousands of customers in California the right to choose their own electricity provider."

The linked table from the PUC report shows results from the January 2012 direct access enrollment period, including customers and load accepted