On December 4, the Electricity Consumers Resource Council (ELCON) advanced a new position paper that states that the U.S. electricity markets need "significant refinement" or Congress should examine a "return to traditional regulation." ELCON representing large energy intensive industrial customers that felt it would be in their best interest to "shop-the-market" for better energy prices, was at the forefront in advancing retail competitive markets. According to the new position paper, the group has concluded that organized markets, as currently structured, are not competitive.
ELCON's President, John Anderson, noted that this new position is a departure from previous policy. In 2004, the organization released a position paper that noted the problems in organized markets, and underlined why industrial electricity users thought that electricity markets were less competitive than those that existed before restructuring. It also noted that markets had become less consumer-oriented.
ELCON added that, despite the fact that it was hoping to see development of real competition, today's markets are "run by suppliers to benefit suppliers.... and that consumer groups have nothing good to say about today's organized markets."
ELCON current position paper, titled "Organized Markets - A Step toward Competition or an Exercise in Re-regulation?" advances three recommendations:
- If states have not moved to retail competition, they should not do so;
- Organized markets in their current structure (with problematic governance structures and market flaws) must be fixed;
- If today's organized markets cannot be fixed, traditional regulation should be revisited.
The link to the report is: http://www.elcon.org/Documents/Publications/12-4piom.pdf , and primarily focuses on the New York Independent System Operator, ISO New England and the PJM Interconnection.
Anderson was a featured speaker at the 2006 NEPPA Annual Meeting in Plymouth Massachusetts.