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Keep an eye on consultant PPM
as it grows across America

Free market for Texas to help it get big

National energy management firm Priority Power Management wants to create the "Travelocity of energy," John Bick told us.
Market monitoring:
Is the focus changing? 

Audio conference
July 28,
12-1:30

Market monitors are actively watching over power markets around the land.  What are they doing?
How are they monitoring markets?

Find out from these top monitors:

• Keith Casey, California ISO

• Parviz Adib, Public Utility Commission of Texas

• David Patton, Midwest ISO

• William Hederman, ran FERC's Office of Market Oversight & Investigations for years

• William Hogan, Harvard University

Click here for details         He's a managing principal at Priority Power Management and is president of the consultant's new service Choose Energy.
        Priority Power Management created www.ChooseEnergy.com to give Texas mass market customers a chance to compare marketers' offers and sign up for new deals online via a single website.
        Bick sees it as a free, independent online energy marketplace similar to online exchanges for travel and mortgages.
        It's not some internet start-up, Bick stressed.
        Priority Power Management manages energy for Fortune 500 C&Is in 21 states and is the largest licensed commercial aggregator in ERCOT.
        Why go into the mass market?
        Customers have been asking for it, Bick explained.
        Priority Power Management has been consulting for big Texas buyers since before the retail market opened.
        Expanding into the mass market is a "natural extension," he observed.
        A lot of CEOs tell Bick they want help picking a supplier for their home, or they have a relative with a small business who could use the same independent comparisons that big C&Is get.
        The mass market is underserved by third-party channels, Bick told us.
        He believes small businesses rely even more on their month-to-month bottom line than do big firms.
        Thus rising power prices are really important to them, he added.
        He created ChooseEnergy.com to be a lot more sophisticated than similar websites, including the state-run Power To Choose.
        Choose Energy lets customers switch providers without externals links -- the only website to give Texas small businesses that opportunity.
        And it claims to give customers fresher prices too.
        Choose Energy's software lets marketers change their online prices themselves as often as they want.
        That means prices can be updated immediately -- retailers don’t have to notify a third party of the change and wait for an update.
        Bick expects commercial offers to change daily as marketers maneuver to give customers the best price while dealing with the headroom that day's energy market allows.
What will Texas market look like when Jan 1 rolls around?

 Audio conference
Aug 25,
12 - 1:30

Imagine Texas with a real mass market!  
Lawmakers put a provision in the law that as of Jan 1 price-to-beat will go away allowing prices to be set by market forces.

That means that Texas will be the only state with a truly free market.  Will this paradigm set an example for America?

Join Taff Tschamler of KEMA, Stream Energy's Alex Rodriguez, Glen Stancil of Reliant Energy and Robert Frank from Direct Energy to find out.

Click here for details and to register.         The website tries to simplify various plans that can complicate shopping – using icons indicating whether an offer includes green power, a price guarantee, a market rate, a variable rate, a locked-in rate, energy rewards, gift certificates or pre-paid options.

General Manager Jerry Dyess expects product choice to explode in Texas once the price to beat ends Jan 1.
        That service makes Choose Energy more attractive to marketers too since they're looking for direct ways to promote their specialty products, he added.
        Marketers have to be qualified by Choose Energy to make sure customers are dealing with a reputable firm that has good customer service.
        Choose Energy needs to make sure customers have a good experience or they won't return or tell their friends about the website, Bick explained.
        Participating marketers include Accent Energy, Champion Energy Services, Commerce Energy, First Choice Power, Green Mountain Energy, Mpower Energy Services, Spark Energy, StarTex Power and W Power & Light.
        Choose Energy expects to sign a deal with Cirro Energy in the next few days and is in active talks with TXU Energy and Reliant Energy.
        It's really important to get those two big incumbents signed since they are such important players, Bick said.
        Marketers don't have to pay a fee to get listed on the site thus Bick expects a lot more marketers to sign up as things get rolling.
        Retailers pay a share of sales done through the website to Choose Energy and the service is completely free for customers.
        Bick has big plans for Choose Energy.
        He expects to expand the website to other choice states -- Illinois, New York and Pennsylvania, for example -- and to offer gas choices where available.
        The firm will stay focused on energy, he predicted.
        Bick isn't interested in telecom or other services.
        Customers will end up paying the highest price if they do nothing and don't shop, Bick argued.

It's Choose Energy's task to educate customers about choice, he added.

        The firm is running television and radio spots and is holding local events to promote the website.
        Originally published in Restructuring Today on July 10, 2006

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Conference Links

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

What will Texas market look like when Jan 1 rolls around?
When: 08/25/06 , 12:00 PM - 1:30 PM CDT
Where: Your home, work or cell phone
http://www.restructuringtoday.com/conferences/texas.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

CEA Technologies Inc (CEATI) -- Issues in Power Quality
When: Sep 12, 2006 - Sep 13, 2006
Where: Montreal, Quebec, Canada - Fairmont Queen Elizabeth Hotel
http://www.ceatech.ca/Meetings/PQ/Issues-Power-Quality.pdf

UPLC -- Broadband Power Line 2006
 When: Sep 17, 2006 - Sep 20, 2006
Where: Omni Charlotte Hotel -- Charlotte, NC
http://bplconference.org/

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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