Retail Energy Supply Association Issues Report Finding Massachusetts Residents Can Save 9% or More with Electric Choice

The Retail Energy Supply Association (RESA) today published a report's findings on competitive retail electric choice in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

RESA said that the analysis, conducted by a consultant on behalf of RESA, found Massachusetts residents could save at least 9% by selecting a retail energy supplier, "creating significant potential saving to consumers of more than $522 million over three years (2018-2020)." RESA said that this finding, "contradicts claims made by the Massachusetts Attorney General Office," concerning the customer experience under retail electric choice

The report compares, dating back to 2018, retail supplier offers posted on the Energy Switch Massachusetts website and default utility service rates, to estimate potential savings.

• Apples-to-Apples: The lowest 6-month competitive electricity offers were compared to 6-month utility default rates.

• 12-Month Fixed: The lowest 12-month competitive electricity offers were compared to two 6-month utility default rate periods.

• Analysis Period: The lowest prevailing competitive electricity offer was compared to utility default rates for the full 3-year analysis period.

Apart from the savings analysis, the number of competitive offers by product category that fell below the utility default rate every month was also reviewed. Product categories included fixed-price products, variable-priced products and green products. Further, non-price related differences between competitive supplier offers and utility default service rates were also examined.

"The data clearly shows that retail electric competition has the potential to save hundreds of millions of dollars to consumers in Massachusetts," said Gretchen Fuhr, President of RESA. "It’s critical for Massachusetts stakeholders to be given reliable, accurate data to understand the potential residential electricity savings offered in their market. Our report provides key findings based on facts and publicly available information that consumers should know so they can exercise their right to shop for the lowest electricity prices in the market and select an electric supplier of their choice."

"Each analysis found that residential customers in Massachusetts can realize significant savings compared to their default utility service rate," RESA said, noting as follows:

Apples-to-Apples:

• Total Potential Residential Class Savings (in $): $583,680,849

• Total Potential Residential Class Savings (in %): 11%

12-Month Fixed:

• Total Potential Residential Class Savings (in $): $473,877,398

• Total Potential Residential Class Savings (in %): 10%

Analysis Period:

• Total Potential Residential Class Savings (in $): $522,683,119

• Total Potential Residential Class Savings (in %): 9%

"The savings analysis makes clear that Massachusetts residential customers can achieve significant savings with retail electric choice. Therefore, it’s important that all residential customers are made fully aware of the Energy Switch Massachusetts website and understand how to shop for the lowest competitive supplier offers that are available to them in the market. Customer education is critical," RESA said

The complete published report is available here.