PowerOptions Expands to Connecticut and Rhode Island

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This article was written by Liam Sullivan, director of marketing and communications at PowerOptions. 

The largest energy buying group of its kind in New England, PowerOptions, is expanding into Connecticut and Rhode Island. As a nonprofit organization, it is a natural evolution of our mission to extend the reach of our programs for electricity, natural gas and solar energy. The expertise we have for leveraging the aggregation in the market place will benefit a broader group of nonprofits and government organizations. And it is two-fold because increasing the size of the consortium through expansion will have a direct benefit on PowerOptions’ existing Massachusetts customers.

PowerOptions has become successful over the years, with about 18 percent of Massachusetts’ competitive retail natural gas market and 4 percent of electricity.  We recognize the business of energy is changing, as customers’ incorporate efficiency measures, renewables and distributed generation into their energy mix, which is why helping our customers in their reduction efforts is an important part of our mission. In looking to the future, it became clear that PowerOptions needed to broaden our reach to stay on the forefront of energy supply and services.

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PowerOptions maintains strong relationships with our members, and those members trust that we have their interests in mind. Suppliers value that relationship and the diversity of the group’s collective load profile. Any plan for growth needed to first prioritize the core business and serve existing members’ needs. The best way for us to continue to deliver superior services to our members is by maintaining our size (or growing).

PowerOptions currently operates within the New England regional energy pool and can only consider states with restructured retail competitive markets consistent with and compatible with PowerOptions model of aggregation. With many options for growth, we decided on expansion into Connecticut and Rhode Island, the second and third largest energy markets in New England after Massachusetts. Our electricity supplier, Direct Energy Business, serves those markets, so we can expand within our current contract.

Although both states have mature competitive markets, neither has a diverse buying group like PowerOptions, and we are confident that our competitive prices and unmatched protections will be a differentiator for us. PowerOptions has filed the necessary paperwork in both states and is ready to do business. We are already meeting with potential new customers and partners, and it is a very encouraging start to the expansion.

Any Massachusetts, Connecticut or Rhode Island nonprofit or public sector organization is eligible to join PowerOptions. For more information, visit poweroptions.org.

This article was written by Liam Sullivan, director of marketing and communications at PowerOptions.