Ohio's effort to move the state's electric utility industry to a competitive market presents the most significant opportunity yet to finally deliver savings to Ohio's residential consumers and small businesses. I know that lawmakers have invested a considerable amount of time and effort in this process over the past several years, and we appreciate your hard work. Because the stakes for consumers are so high, it's important that we learn from the other states that are further down the electric deregulation road, and from the experience with the deregulation of long distance telephone service. Soon Ohio consumers may get to choose their electric supplier, just as we choose our long distance telephone service provider today. Most of us aren't sure whether we are saving as much as we could on our long distance phone bills.
Offers are confusing, the constant solicitations are annoying, and the final savings are often tiny.
Typically, electric bills are a bigger part of a family's budget than long distance calls, increasing the importance of good comparison shopping. By changing the current political subdivision aggregation language in the Senate Bill 3, you can give consumers the tool they need to both capture potential savings from a competitive market and avoid the confusion and irritation associated with long distance competition. Any customer would retain the right to opt-out of the purchasing pool at any time. The advantage of opt-out community choice is clear. Power suppliers will offer the lowest prices to large, stable markets.