Businesses don’t have to pay for Connecticut’s highest priced electricity, and several trade organizations in the state make sure their members can get the best price available.
As a result of deregulation, Connecticut’s business and residential ratepayers don’t have to suffer the standard utility rates for generating electricity. They can choose a competitive supplier, who can offer cheaper rates with more stable pricing.
Instead of leaving individual businesses to negotiate competitive rates on their own, organizations such as the Connecticut Business & Industry Association and the Connecticut Retail Merchants Association use the collective buying power and negotiating prowess of their members to get them the best rates.
CBIA has its Energy Connections program, which after a decade has enrolled 700 CBIA members with alternative suppliers.
Using an online auction system, CBIA will take bids from suppliers for either one large company or several small companies grouped together in order to achieve the most appropriate rate. Businesses can specify the type and length of contracts they want, sometimes as long as three years.
“They will get that stability where they don’t have to worry about price changes,” said Kevin Hennessy, CBIA energy lobbyist.
The Connecticut Retail Merchants Association launched its energy savings program six month ago. The CRMA partners with Massachusetts energy supplier Metromedia Power Inc. to shop around for the best prices.
Twelve CRMA businesses have signed up for the program.
Retailers get a lot of calls from electricity suppliers, and there are so many right now that it is very hard to know how to pick the right one, said Tim Phelan, CRMA president. The market still is maturing.
“There are a lot of suppliers out there, and you wonder how long some of them will stick around,” Phelan said.
Regardless of whether businesses choose to go through a trade association or not; they need to move beyond the standard utility rates, Hennessy said. At the start of the year, 45 percent of Connecticut businesses hadn’t made the switch to an alternative supplier.
“People should take advantage of the competitive market,” Hennessy said.
