Consumers Energy customers can select their gas and electric suppliers. This is an important change from the way energy traditionally has been sold. It's called customer choice...and we've tried to make it as simple as possible to understand. Consumers Energy will still provide the delivery, no matter what gas or electric supplier you select.
Choice Overview
Exactly What's Changing...and What Isn't
Why Choice?
Electric Choice
Natural Gas Choice
From groceries to gas stations to banks, you’re used to having a wide range of choices when you go shopping.
Now you also can choose where to buy your electricity and natural gas.
Choice means competition. You can compare prices from different suppliers.
But while competition means greater choice, and hopefully lower prices, it also means that you will have to do your homework before deciding where to buy your electricity and natural gas. With choice comes the responsibility to get all the information you can about what your choices are and what kind of service you need.
Exactly What’s Changing...and What Isn’t?
Traditionally, electricity and natural gas companies like Consumers Energy have provided all of the services needed to bring energy to your home. We take care of buying the natural gas and electricity (actually, we produce a lot of this electricity in our own generating plants).
We deliver the energy to your home or business and charge you for this service. We make sure our delivery systems -- a network of gas pipelines and electric power lines -- are well-maintained and operate safely. If there are problems, we’re the folks who show up to fix them -- like when storms knock down power lines.
With choice, you can shop around for your best deal, and select someone else to buy your natural gas and electricity.
Whatever choice you make, we still deliver the energy to your home or business. We still make sure our delivery systems are maintained. And we still fix problems that might occur.
In most of your shopping decisions, you have choices. Electricity and natural gas have been two of the few exceptions.
Large industrial customers have been able to choose their gas supplier for a long time. And more recently, large industrial electric customers also have successfully negotiated individual contracts.
Choice is being driven by market forces, by people like you who want this same freedom to choose where to buy energy