Power to Choose energy is a facility where the users themselves can compare between various electricity providers and choose a convenient provider who provides them with low electricity rates according to their energy needs.
Why is the power to choose energy importantly?
Every home or service place has its unique power requirements. Just like how each person gets to choose between which telecom service is appropriate for them, it is very important that users should get to do the same with their electricity provider too.
Do we have the power to choose energy in India?
As of now, no, we cannot choose an electricity provider by ourselves. Currently, most of the discoms i.e., power distribution utilities are owned by the state. And the central government contemplated that the state-owned discoms are unable to ensure 24 hours ‘power for all’ as they are short of money.
But our Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on the 1st of February, 2021, in her budget speech in the Lok Sabha announced that the government will soon put in place a framework to allow electricity consumers to choose service providers or discoms. She also declared that discoms are monopolies and there is a need to provide choices for customers to choose from, she stated that a framework will be put forth regarding the same.
So, it is expected that ‘Power to choose energy’ will be soon implemented in India.
Isn’t that exciting! We will get to choose an electricity provider with affordable prices, on our own!
While this concept is new in India, some other countries have already implemented it and are running successfully.
Few places where the ‘Power to Choose energy’ is implemented are:
- Germany
- Pennsylvania, USA
- Texas
- Switzerland (you can choose the provider if you use more than 100MW per year)
Now let us take the example of Texas,
In Texas, The Public Utility Commission has its official website named the Power to Choose energy which allows the energy providers to list the available options free of cost. Through that, the consumer can select the convenient plan according to their preferred price and needs.
How can they avail the plan?
After visiting the website, the consumer needs to enter the ZIP CODE to which different plans provided in their locality will appear. The consumer needs to select the appropriate plan suitable for their utilities.
What are the benefits of having the Power to Choose Energy?
Competition provides quality plan:
As the consumer will choose a plan which is affordable for them and at the same time fulfil their needs, there will be hard competition amongst the energy providers for attracting and satisfying the customer with service. So, providers will try to come up with many consumer-friendly plans and ultimately consumers will be provided with a budget-friendly plan.
Control:
The consumer has the full power to choose, which makes them ‘The King’.
Clean energy options:
An increasing number of consumers prefer green or clean energy sources. Therefore, the providers who want to sustain in the long run will offer creative and innovative plans which will be sustainable, for the consumer.
