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REAL: Virginia Energy Summit Takeaway: Let Customers Shop
Excerpts from REAL Press Release
Last week, Virginia leaders and policymakers met to discuss the challenges facing the state in meeting energy demand in an affordable and reliable way.
The case for competition was made by a panel of experts, led by Glenn Wright, President of Shell Energy.
“The energy system of the future is multifaceted and multi-dimensional,” said Wright.
There is no silver bullet to address these issues, but a variety of solutions that will facilitate an affordable energy future start with allowing more of Virginia’s customers the freedom to procure energy outside of the utility.
“Unlike utilities in Virginia, retail energy providers do not have riders or the ability to come back and ask the customer for more money in the event we didn’t collect enough. It’s an inherent risk that we take as a supplier when we hedge,” said Travis Kavulla, Vice President of Regulatory Affairs at NRG Energy.
With the utility as the purchaser, the risk is on the ratepayer. With a retail energy provider, the risk is on the provider.
“The lack of ability to control and manage wholesale prices at the hands of the utilities is why Virginia’s customers have seen such an increase in rates and riders,” said Kavulla.
