December 11, 2009

Power shopping in September was up 0.2% in Maryland in number of accounts, landing at 6.9%.  That translates to 3,170 new shoppers in the state month-to-month.  There was growth in three of four categories with only large C&I bucking the trend by holding steady at 88.7% -- though the class did see a pair of new shopper's month-to-month.

          Residential shopping -- often the target for some state lawmakers and Gov Martin O'Malley when they talk of shutting down part of the competitive market -- was up 0.1% in September.  From March to June, the class was up 0.8% then 0.3% in July and 0.2% in August.

          Small C&I was up 0.6% in number of shoppers and 0.4% for medium C&Is.

          All four IOUs told the PSC they saw shopping grow in their territories.  Allegheny Power and Delmarva Power saw jumps of 0.3% from month-to-month to lead the pack while Baltimore Gas & Electric (BGE) and Pepco both had a shopping bump of 0.1%.

          Shopped load was unchanged from August to September though an extra 18 mw was sold in the month.

          By territory, three of the four firms saw a boost in share of shopped load with BGE holding steady from month-to-month.  That firm delivers over half the competitive load statewide.

          Shoppers in Delmarva's territory saw the biggest jump at 0.5% while Pepco and Allegheny saw bumps, too at 0.2% and 0.12% respectively.

Maryland power shopping - September 2009
	Residentials		Small C&Is		Medium C&Is		Large C&Is		Total shopping
	Accts	%	Accts	%	Accts	%	Accts	%	Accts	%
Allegheny Power	1550	0.7%	4,007	14.3%	2,654	42.0%	117	84.2%	8,328	3.3%
Baltimore G&E	41,139	3.7%	25,267	26.5%	13,717	52.9%	614	91.1%	80,737	6.5%
Delmarva Power	2,012	1.2%	4,120	15.2%	2,362	46.7%	69	94.5%	8,563	4.2%
Pepco	37,679	7.9%	8,479	25.0%	8,213	50.9%	496	86.3%	54,867	10.4%
Total	82,380	4.2%	41,873	22.7%	26,946	50.4%	1,296	88.7%	152,495	6.9%
Peak load served by marketers (mw)
Allegheny Power	0	0.0%	12	20.4%	210	59.9%	232	86.9%	453	32.7%
Baltimore G&E	151	4.1%	79	23.7%	1,189	67.7%	1,387	92.5%	2,806	38.8%
Delmarva Power	8	1.7%	22	28.0%	158	67.0%	111	96.7%	299	33.1%
Pepco	149	9.3%	37	28.4%	687	69.2%	741	97.2%	1,614	46.2%
Total	308	4.8%	149	25.0%	2,244	67.3%	2,470	93.5%	5,171	39.7%
Source: Maryland PSC