For decades, consumers were required to purchase all of their electricity and natural gas from a single utility. Today, a growing number of states are creating the option for consumers to choose if they would like to purchase their electricity or natural gas from a competitive energy supplier or from their local utility. Competitive suppliers are typically licensed by your state’s public utility commission and no longer allow utilities to monopolize both the supply and delivery portion of your bill. Deregulation began in the late 1990s and is growing state by state. Currently around half of all states have some form of Energy Choice available.