Legislation Provides Energy Supply Choice
April 2008, Central and Southern Illinois – Because of energy restructuring in the State of Illinois, utility customers may purchase electricity directly from Alternative Retail Electric Suppliers (ARES). In an effort to educate its business customers on potential savings by switching suppliers, The Ameren Illinois Utilities launched PowerSwitchExpo.com and hosted PowerSwitch Expos in18 Illinois cities.
To draw businesses, Simantel developed an awareness campaign and micro site, adding a post-Expo media presentation to continue customer education. Because of the positive response and post-Expo Web analytics reports, the company plans to repeat Expos in additional markets next year.
ARES are expected to ramp up marketing efforts aimed at residential customers in early 2009. Simantel is working with the utility on its plan to educate residential customers on the complexities of shopping the retail electric supply market.
