Energy Marketers
National
Energy
Marketers
Association is a non-profit organization that represents not only
wholesale but
also retail marketers as well as technology firms within the energy
industry.
They work together within the association to help level the playing
field and
allow for competition within the energy market. Thus working to rid the
market
of monopoly practices. This actually benefits consumers as with
competition
there are choices. By removing monopoly, consumers are not forced to
use just
one company’s services.
Consumer
choice programs that
are available in some states allows for competition to take place in
all areas
of the state. This program allows consumers to shop around and decide
which
company they wish to purchase their energy such as electric and natural
gas
from. You receive consumer protection since you can choose who you do
business
with and who you choose not to do business with. The National Energy
Marketers
Association believes that the consumer choice programs open up
competition with
in the industry. This competition is good for the states, consumers and
the
energy companies (Atlanta
natural gas).
National
Energy Marketers
Association works together as a whole to urge lawmakers and regulators
implement certain practices. One such implementation that the
association works
to ensure is that competitively neutral standards are put into place
that will
protect all those that participate in the energy industry. Accounting
standards
that promote the appropriate valuation of energy assets is another area
the
association wants to see change in. The association wants to see
investments
into new technology implemented by lawmakers and regulators. The
association
wants the market opened up to competition but as you can see from
above, they
also want standards set into place for all those concerned.
Within
a slideshow
presentation offered on The National Energy Marketers Association
website, one
of the views of the association as a whole is that delaying the
transition into
a completive end state within the market will hurt consumers in a
number of
ways. The ways that they show consumers are hurt is through higher
prices,
limited competitive options and sub optimal settlements. This shows
that when
working as whole and working under standards, that competition within a
market
place has benefits to all.
The
National Energy Marketers
Association also wishes to see “safety net”
programs implemented into the
energy industry. These programs would protect energy marketers as well
as
consumers. One such program would set a standard limit of price
competition and
another program would set a “core consumer”
protection.
The
association also looks
for ways that energy marketers can protect themselves from consumer
debt.
Unlike the purchase of a product, commodities such as electric and natural gas
cannot be recovered for failure to pay. When consumers do not pay their
bills
energy marketers are taking a substantial loss. Thus, the association
is
working on ways to reduce the loss that the energy marketers face. The
issues
arise when trying to determine how to ensure consumer payments beyond
the
normal means allocated to them at the present time.