Will You Buy Your Power From a Store?

[kristopher]

Will You Buy Your Power From a Store?
Utilities might start selling a whole lot more than power, and regular stores might offer power. In fact, it’s already happening.


Just like bank offers of years ago, retailers in deregulated electricity markets might offer small incentives if you switch to their services. With banks, opening an account might have gotten you free checking for a year and a toaster oven. In Texas, which is the most competitive electric market in the U.S., there is only slight variation in price and generation options with electricity retailers, and instead of a toaster oven, you might get a gift card.

Over in the U.K., however, things are a little different. M&S Energy offers up £30 in vouchers if you save 10 percent on your electricity bill. What does the M&S stand for? Well, that’s Marks and Spencer, one of the U.K.’s leading department store chains.

Technically, Marks and Spencer isn’t in the electric retail business, but it’s selling electricity, solar panels and efficiency programs by partnering with Scottish and Southern Energy. Most of us don’t think twice about buying our electricity from “the” utility, but that could be changing soon. The M&S model could work in the U.S. because Marks is promoting services for SSE. It has retail and customer expertise, however, that SSE doesn't.

Marks and Spencer’s has a wealth of analytical software and data to make the customer experience more pleasant and the sales process more “sticky.” One major problem that utilities and retailers have is trust. Customers simply don’t trust their energy provider the way they trust their favorite large store.

In Australia, where...

http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/will-you-buy-your-power-from-a-store/

[damntexdem]

1. No, I prefer mine from the municipal utility.

At least as long as it's allowed to exist.