Wisconsin Electric Sees First Customers Shopping

Wisconsin Electric Power Company has seen the first customers in its Michigan Upper Peninsula electric territory shop for an alternative supplier.

The intent of two customers at Wisconsin Electric (We Energies) to shop had been first reported by EnergyChoiceMatters.com in June, in reporting that Integrys Energy Services had submitted switches for two customers.

The identity of two of the customers has now been revealed, and We Energies also reported that some smaller customers are also now shopping.

Specifically, Cliffs Natural Resources is due to take competitive electric supply for its Empire and Tilden Mines starting September 1, from Integrys Energy Services. We Energies executives said that the 2008 law which capped choice sales at 10% of a utility's sales excludes the iron ore mines from this cap.

We Energies also reported on an earnings call that additional customers are switching as well, including small customers, citing specifically a paint store and bank branch.

We Energies' cap tracking system shows active customer participation in choice as 23,834 MWh (about 1% of We Energies' sales), with 1.4 million MWh in the choice queue (about 56% of We Energies' sales).