Half of Retail Energy Suppliers to Enter New Markets This Year, NEM Survey Finds

More than half of surveyed retail energy suppliers plan to expand into new markets this year, according to a survey prepared for the National Energy Marketers Association.

The 2012 Retail Energy Marketer Trends survey [mirrored link], conducted by Skipping Stone, included responses from approximately one-third of the active retail marketers in North America.

Major findings included:

• A majority of marketers (53%) are expanding their product and service offerings

• A majority of marketers (53%) plan to expand into new markets

• Acquisitions are planned by 25% of marketers; however, none of the respondents indicated plans to sell

On the last point, Skipping Stone observed, "The obvious disconnect in M&A is the fact that 25% want to grow through acquisition, yet none of the retailers indicated a sell strategy. That will likely result in premium valuations for those willing to sell."

Skipping Stone also noted that 70% of retailers reported having a sales channel program in place, yet a majority indicated their sales channels underperform compared to internal sales efforts.

The most significant challenge to growth cited by survey respondents was competitive margins (cited by about 25% of suppliers), closely followed by access to capital, state regulatory proceedings and market maturity (at about 20% each).

Over 30% of suppliers listed multiple market billing systems as their greatest technology challenge.