What went wrong with New York retail markets? -- A webinar presented by Power Markets Today

ROCKVILLE, Md. - April 28, 2016 - PRLog -- New York restructured back in the late 1990s, when that was in vogue, and it has been plugging along as one of the bigger retail markets since.

In 2014, it had the fifth highest number of shoppers among retail jurisdictions in the US and Canada, according to DEFG. That was also the year of the polar vortex, which roiled wholesale markets and caught retailers who were ill prepared by surprise causing them to pass the massive price spikes directly onto consumers.

That started a wave of retail reforms on the East Coast. Neighboring Connecticut ended up banning variable rates while Pennsylvania improved notification requirements and made switching easier. New York already had an open docket on retail reforms when the vortex hit, but nothing came of it until this February.

The New York PSC issued an order requiring that all retailers, or ESCOs (energy service companies) in its parlance, guarantee savings over the utility product for all residential and small commercial customers. New York's utility rates are far more variable than other restructured states so retailers complained that the requirement would effectively kill the mass-market.

The PSC's order found that the margins were so narrow in the mass market that retailers were trying to sign up as many customers as possible in whichever ways they could. That often led to unscrupulous sales tactics against vulnerable members of society such as the elderly, or slamming - when a retailer's salesperson claims they work for the utility (or another retail firm) to sign up a customer.

The new rules were set to go into effect after 10 days, but retailer won a temporary restraining order from the New York Supreme Court. That is in effect until May, at which point the parties will be arguing the merits of the rule and whether retailers will continue to get a reprieve.

Get expert insight into what happened with New York retail markets and what it means for the future of competition by registering for Power Markets Today's webinar titled "What went wrong with New York retail markets?" to be held on Wednesday, May 4, from 2-3:30 PM Eastern US time. Click here http://www.powermarketstoday.com/What-went-wrong-in-New-York-retail-markets-webinar.html or call +1-301-769-6812 (1-888-637-7776 toll-free in the US and Canada) to register.

Key learning points:

• Hear a breakdown of what went wrong in the retail markets in New York

• Get an update on the litigation surrounding the rules

• Find out what this means for the future of competition in New York

• Hear about the factors preventing the "mass market" from achieving the same success as C&I

• Ask your own questions and get advice from the panel, tailored to your specific needs, when we open up the phone lines for live Q&A from the audience.


Distinguished speakers:

• Richard Berkley, executive director, Public Utility Law Project of New York (PULP)

• Darin Cook, co-founder and co-CEO, Infinite Energy

• Chris Kallaher, senior director of government & regulatory affairs, Direct Energy

• Nat Treadway, co-founder and managing partner, Distributed Energy Financial Group (DEFG)


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About

For more information about Power Markets Today's webinar titled "What went wrong with New York retail markets?",  call +1-301-769-6812 (1-888-637-7776 toll-free in the US and Canada) or visit http://www.powermarketstoday.com/What-went-wrong-in-New-York-retail-markets-webinar.html.

Power Markets Today's mission is to deliver exclusive news chronicling ongoing efforts to build competitive wholesale and retail utility markets with in-depth analysis on why some fail and others succeed. Power Markets Today is published 245 times a year by Modern Markets Intelligence Inc. (MMI).

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Editor, Power Markets Today
Modern Markets Intelligence Inc.
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james@mminews.com

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Modern Markets Intelligence Inc.
1-888-678-4480
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