Shopping for Power in CT

The Hartford Courant:

A combination of factors is driving businesses to start shopping for generation.

For the past seven years since deregulation started, suppliers have said the utilities' prices were lower than what competitive suppliers could offer. Recent price increases are changing that. Customers who get their generation from CL&P saw their rates climb an estimated 20 percent this year. That could increase again next year. The state's other major utility, United Illuminating, which serves the New Haven and Bridgeport areas, could see rates jump 50 percent. Suppliers say these rate increases are making their prices competitive in Connecticut for the first time. Their pitch is that they can tailor a power purchase by purchasing from generators a mix of fixed prices and real-time prices, on-peak and off-peak rates. The utilities, in contrast, purchase power less frequently, in larger blocks.