New York is entering a new era of competition by transforming the utility industry into an open marketplace that will offer more consumer choices and economic benefits to the State's residents and businesses. In June 1997, the Commission took another step down the competitive road by approving a retail access pilot program for qualified farmers and food processors. Eligible customers in the service territories of Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation, Central Hudson Gas and Electric Corporation, Rochester Gas and Electric Corporation, and New York State Electric and Gas Corporation became able to shop for electricity and other energy services. The pilot was designed to provide first-hand retail access experience by allowing eligible customers to purchase energy from suppliers other than the local utility company. The Commission endorsed the retail pilot program because it is a multi-utility program that offers a valuable opportunity to test key systems and procedures needed as competition and consumer choice become a reality for all New Yorkers.
Agribusiness is New York's number one industry.
Our dairy industry is the third largest in the nation. With better rates for electricity, farms and food processors will have an opportunity to lower production costs and invest the savings in their business. They also offer economic incentives to bring new companies to the State. The pilot was intended to demonstrate how aggregation will work and how retail access principles will apply to transforming New York's electric industry into a broader, fully competitive marketplace. More than 17,000 farms and 600 food processors were initially eligible to use this pilot to make choices about their electricity and other energy services.