News & Events

By Dan Allegretti After nearly three years of asserting that utility basic service is always a better deal for residential consumers than retail choice, Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey just proved herself spectacularly wrong. Here’s what happened. On October 22, 2021, the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities approved a settlement agreement between electric utility company...

More than twenty years ago federal regulators adopted rules promoting competition in regional wholesale electricity markets and the first states adopted programs to promote competition in retail electricity markets. These reforms congealed in the 1990s with considerable momentum nationally for competition in electricity—that is until the well-intentioned but poorly-conceived market restructuring in California imploded. This...

By Dan Allegretti The writer is the national spokesperson for the Retail Energy Supply Association. A recent guest commentary by the AARP recommended that the government take away the ability for consumers to subscribe for electric service from a provider of their choice. The AARP would instead have one electric power company provide service, on terms set...

Rooftop solar is predicted to be the next generation of electricity choice for consumers according to the International Energy Agency. Not only does it promote ‘going green’, but it allows customers to understand how their energy consumption is directly impacting their environment. According to the Department of Energy, solar energy is also the fastest growing and most...

Electricity used to be boring.  Public utilities that provided power to homes and businesses were regulated monopolies and, by law, guaranteed a fixed rate-of-return on their generation, transmission, and distribution assets. Prices per kilowatt-hour were set by utility commissions after lengthy testimony from power companies, wanting higher rates, and consumer groups, wanting lower rates. About...

The Retail Energy Supply Association (RESA) today said that updated 2020 data shows continued increases in costs to states with monopoly electricity suppliers, and the savings available under restructuring. RESA’s latest update on the findings include the latest figures collected by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). RESA said that, “Since 2008, the EIA data...

By RESA Staff Member On a recent visit to my local hardware store, I was struck by all the products on display to help manage my energy needs. The store had LED light bulbs, weather stripping, and fiberglass insulation to help make my home more energy efficient. There were “smart” thermostats that connect to the...

By RESA Staff Member Maryland Matters published a commentary last month from Tammy Bresnahan, the director of advocacy for AARP Maryland regarding the “deregulated” retail energy market (“Annapolis Showdown on Utility Rip-Offs,” Feb. 23). The Retail Energy Supply Association (RESA) vehemently disagrees with this article and believes such assertions from AARP are not only misleading, but dangerous....

Late last year, months before the country got a dramatic lesson in what is otherwise the wonky workings of the Texas electric grid, Pennsylvania regulators began a discussion about batteries and how they might help utilities avoid the types of disasters that befell the Lone Star State and bring other benefits to local grids. Comments...