Monday June 19 2006


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Look out for ConEd Solutions,
George Lopez

Picking new markets to join fray

Political turmoil over competitive retail markets won't stop ConEdison Solutions from pursuing an aggressive growth strategy, Jorge (he says George) Lopez, the marketer's newly named CEO told us.
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        ConEd Solutions is "very excited" about where markets are heading, Lopez added, and he's bullish about retail choice.
        In fact, ConEd Solutions plans to enter three more markets this year.
        Which three?
        Lopez is still evaluating the options but he's looking at New England, Pennsylvania, Illinois and parts of Texas.
        ConEd Solutions entered Texas earlier this year (RT, 3/21) but so far has just sold in CenterPoint Energy's footprint (Houston).
        Michael Perna, the retailer's vice president of business development, has singled out New Hampshire as an attractive market as well (RT, 6/13).
        ConEd Solutions now sells in seven states plus the nation's capital and is entering Delaware too (RT, 5/4).
        Lopez eventually wants the firm to be active in all the viable retail markets.
ConEd Solutions is weighing whether to add gas sales to its business, Lopez told us, and growing ConEd Solutions' energy services unit is a top priority for Lopez.
        He wants to expand its focus from just federal contracts to deals with states and local governments.
        Lopez sees nice synergies between the commodity and services businesses.
        Some customers buy services and commodities from ConEd Solutions.
        Procurement folks at the federal level typically don't buy them together, he added.
        A "significant" number of Lopez's customers are moving away from indexed pricing, he revealed.
        They either want a fixed price or a blended deal that limits volatility and as a class they hate volatility. They're just fed up with trying to "outguess" the market, Lopez said.
        They want security.
        Customers are focusing on their budget targets and aren't chasing potential savings from market dips, he noticed.
        Fixed deals help ConEd Solutions too, Lopez observed.
        It gives the retailer more predictability and makes load easier to forecast.
        But that doesn't make power-buying strategies easy, he stressed.
        Successful buying still has to balance ConEd Solutions' product offerings with market prices, he noted.
        Falling fuel prices give marketers a good chance to attract more shoppers from default utility service, Lopez told us.
        In his view that's how the success of retail markets is to be determined, by the number of customers who leave their incumbent provider.
        He worries about political moves to rollback retail choice as in Maryland -- especially politicians who want to take away customers’ right to choose how they buy energy.
        Denying choice and locking them into one type of service is no way to lower prices, he argued.
        Delaying rate hikes and passing costs into the future won't work either, he added.
        For Lopez, ConEd Solutions has to be "pro-active" in advocating customer benefits of retail choice.
        Originally published in Restructuring Today on June 19, 2006

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CONFERENCE LINKS

The Future of ABC Channels in Texas
When: 07/21/06 , 12:00 PM - 1:30 PM CDT
Where: Your home, work or cell phone
www.restructuringtoday.com/conferences/texasabc.html

Market monitoring: Is the focus changing?
When: 07/28/06 , 12:00 PM - 1:30 PM CDT
Where: Your home, work or cell phone
 http://www.restructuringtoday.com/conferences/monitor.html

EUCI's Western Resource Adequacy
When: 07/17/06 - 07/18/06, 7:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Where: Westin Horton Plaza -- San Diego, CA
http://www.euci.com

IQPC's 3rd Annual Broadband Over Powerline 2006
 When:  July 25-26, 2006
Where:  Dallas, Texas
www.iqpc.com/NA-2741/BPLT

EUCI's Using Shadow Settlement to Improve Profits in LMP Markets
When: 07/25/06 - 07/26/06, 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Where: Stanley Hotel -- Estes Park, CO
http://www.euci.com

EUCI's Preparing for New CAISO MRTU Market
When: 07/27/06 , 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Where: Stanley Hotel -- Estes Park, CO
http://www.euci.com

NET-ATHOME™ -- The world’s most international connected home event
When:  September 26 & 27, 2006
Where: Hilton Hotel -- Cannes, France
 www.net-athome.com/

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