Consumer switching in retail electricity markets: Is price all that matters?

Abstract

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Determining Factors and Scenarios of Influence on Consumer Migration from the Regulated Market to the Deregulated Electricity Market

“…This decision allows consumers to compare offers and choose their suppliers according to their needs, services, and tariffs [17]. With this decentralization, energy generators compete in the market to cater to the expected demand of customers [18], this competition results in the attraction of innovative and more efficient participants [19]. Since deregulation in the mid-1990s in Europe, the number of electricity providers has increased substantially [20].…”

“…Systematic literature review [19,46,[54][55][56][57] Variation of prices in the short term market (MCP) Systematic literature review [46,49,54,[56][57][58] Credibility in the supplier and trader Systematic literature review [19,46] Regulations Migration procedures Systematic literature review [52] Termination of the ACR energy contract Gray literature [39,51,59] Return from ACL to ACR Gray literature [30,39,51,59] Step 2: Gray literature, or literature published by non-traditional publishers, such as the government or non-profit organizations, can be particularly valuable for current awareness due to its nature [60]. This literature differs from the SLR in that they are materials produced by professionals who are not included in academic forums [61].…”

“…The risk factor with contracts is associated with the commitments that consumers must assume when signing an energy purchase contract, which can be long or short term [19]. In them, in addition to the duration, the volume to be delivered, the prices to be paid, and deadlines for the supply of all energy are freely negotiated [46,54,55,57].…”

“…The credibility factor in the supplier and trader deals with how much consumers know or trust companies to deliver the contracted services [19,46]. Often these consumers have limited information, blindly opting for a retail company, these poorly qualified may not comply with contracts, supply low-quality energy [15], perform fraudulent charges, and provide terrible support to their client [24].…”

“…In China, the government is investing heavily in initiatives such as technical solutions, new laws, and comprehensive policies that involve environmental protection, and it has already been proven that these initiatives make a difference in environmental quality and human health [76]. The recent global pandemic (COVID- 19), in turn, generated a crisis that affected all sectors, revealing a vulnerability in the current energy markets, and it is now a challenge to develop new economic and energy recovery plans, selecting and prioritizing efforts and investments for a renewable and sustainable future [74].…”