Comprehensive energy services at competitive prices: Bundling efficiency and energy for small consumers through a retail buyers' cooperative

Conference · Wed Jul 01 04:00:00 EDT 1998

OSTI ID:20006372

Plunkett, J; Sachs, B

Electric competition should lower prices, at least for large users. Small consumers could miss out on lower prices. Deregulation has already set back energy efficiency and energy affordability efforts for low income consumers. The authors envision Consumers' Energy Cooperatives (CECs or Consumercos) offering small users a complete menu of electricity, fossil fuel, and efficiency choices, including renewable energy options through a buyers' cooperative owned and controlled by its members. Now being pioneered in several northeastern states, CECs will offer competitive solutions otherwise available only to the largest consumers. CEC markets and delivers full-service, fuel-neutral energy services. It completes on the basis of lower bills, not the lowest price, by integrating electricity aggregation, competitive fuel procurement, and comprehensive energy-efficiency, all with the optional convenience of consolidated billing. Energy efficiency adds value, both by lowering bills and by reducing environmental impacts. Integrating fossil fuels helps optimize both efficiency investment and energy mix, while overcoming individual energy supplier disincentives' to improve efficiency. The authors analyzed the feasibility of a particular application of the Consumerco in a Northeastern state. Their analysis found that the energy co-op would be economically viable under moderate expectations if it provided a full complement of energy services to its customers. Energy efficiency was found to be vital to the economic success of the cooperative enterprise. Only under optimistic scenarios would electricity aggregation by viable without either efficiency of fuel oil. Not even optimistic expectations would make it viable if it omitted both fossil fuel and energy-efficiency services.

• Research Organization: Optimal Energy, Inc., Middlebury, VT (US)
• OSTI ID: 20006372
• Report Number(s): CONF-980815--
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION
COMPETITION
COOPERATIVES
ECONOMICS
ELECTRIC POWER
ENERGY EFFICIENCY
SMALL BUSINESSES