Large European Online Comparison Site to Enter U.S. Retail Energy Market

French energy and home services comparison website Selectra Ltd. is expanding to the United States, with a planned launch in May 2015.

Over 100,000 electric and natural gas contracts are signed annually through Selectra's comparison portal. Selectra was launched in the French energy market in 2007, and recently expanded to Spain. In addition to individual electricity and natural gas offers, Selectra offers a dual fuel "group buy" (aggregation)

It also recently purchased a shopping portal offering comparisons of high-speed internet service, noting that it is anticipated that European retail energy suppliers are expected to begin offering internet service among their suite of products.

In the U.S., Selectra has registered the domain www.callmepower.com, which is said to be under construction.

In addition to expanding to the U.S., Selectra has announced targeting Japan, Italy, and additional European Union countries for expansion.

In the it's-a-small-world department, Selectra's announcement concerning its Spanish expansion noted that with the growing number of alternative suppliers in Spain's energy market, households are now in the heart of a real "Wild West" ("jungle") of offers for energy supply, and consumer groups have denounced aggressive marketing practices, including door-to-door, harassing phone calls, and occasionally fraudulent contractual clauses.