COLUMBUS, Ohio - The state agency charged with representing the interests of Ohio's residential utility customers released today a "report card" on the first year of Ohio's competitive electric marketplace. The report issued by the Ohio Consumers' Counsel (OCC) concludes that the first year of "electric choice" in Ohio has been generally positive for the state's residential consumers -- but that there is substantial room for improvement.

In June 1999, the Ohio General Assembly passed legislation that restructured Ohio's electric industry. Under the legislation, most residential electric customers in Ohio were given the freedom to shop for a new electricity supplier beginning January 1, 2001.

"As the state's residential utility advocate, we want to know first if Ohio's residential electric consumers are better off today than they were before electric choice took effect," said Ohio Consumers' Counsel Rob Tongren. "Then we want to know how their situation can be improved even more. The short answer to the first question is, 'Yes, they are.'"

Tongren said electric choice has been good for consumers in a number of ways:

OCC's report outlines a series of recommended state and federal actions to energize Ohio's competitive electric market: