There are now over 100 new electric generation suppliers competing to serve Pennsylvania’s business customers, but while this competition can drastically lower Pennsylvanians’ electric bills, customers need to be sure that they find a reputable and competent energy provider that will be around for the long haul.  That’s where SaveOnEnergy.com can save Pennsylvania businesses not only money on their electric bills, but hours and hours of time in finding the right energy supplier.

The risks from choosing the wrong electric supplier are not just hypothetical.  In other markets where electric competition has allowed customers to save money on their electric bills, there have been energy suppliers that have gone out of business, as can be expected in any market where competition is driving down prices and margins, and only the strong survive.

Pennsylvanians can not simply choose the lowest electric rate when shopping for an energy provider, tempting as that may be.  While a low price is important, customers need to be assured that their electric company can honor that price, whether it be for a short-term contract, or up to 12, 24 or 36 months.  If their energy supplier offers a low “teaser” rate, but can’t stand behind it and goes out of business due to mismanagement or risky plays in the electric markets, customers could be stuck paying extremely high rates for “default” service, which is the safety net service customers are automatically pushed to if their electric supplier goes out of business.  These default rates can be high and volatile, and for some large business customers, they can change every hour of the day, with changes in the wholesale electricity market.  These “hourly” prices can spike as high as thousands of dollars — or more than 10 times the normal price.

Businesses have been exposed to these punitive rates on several occasions in the competitive Texas electric market, particularly in 2008 when five electric providers defaulted and dropped customers to the safety net Provider of Last Resort, mainly due to poor risk management by the suppliers.  Pennsylvania customers must protect themselves against such dangers.  However, researching the 100 electric companies now competing in Pennsylvania would take hours and hours, adding up to weeks if not months.  Moreover, getting a good handle on the competency and capability of each energy supplier in Pennsylvania is a daunting task, as the electric industry is extremely complicated and technical, with limited information available publicly.

That’s where SaveOnEnergy.com can not only save Pennsylvania businesses thousands on their electric bill; SaveOnEnergy.com can also save businesses thousands in hours of research, allowing business owners to focus on what matters, helping their customers and running their businesses.  As noted last week, the experts at SaveOnEnergy.com screen all electric suppliers in the market using a rigorous criteria, including financial strength and management competence.  This includes investigating an energy supplier’s capitalization to ensure that it can weather volatile changes in the electric market; a supplier’s risk management and commodity purchasing strategies to ensure that the supplier is not taking risks with its customers’ money by playing the market; and a supplier’s leadership to ensure that they have a history of sound business decisions and have not broken contracts with customers in the past. 

By relying on the expertise of SaveOnEnergy.com to shop for a lower electric rate, Pennsylvania business customers can be assured that they will not be stranded on a high-priced “default” electric service because their supplier went out of business.  In this way, SaveOnEnergy.com not only provides customers with a low electric rate, but ensures this rate translates into real savings, and doesn’t vanish in just a few months because the supplier went out of business.

As noted last week, Pennsylvania businesses will soon be bombarded, if not already, with a multitude of electric rate offers from new energy suppliers and their broker agents in anticipation of the end of capped electric rates at the remaining Pennsylvania utilities — PECO, Met-Ed, Penelec, and West Penn Power (Allegheny).  There are some 100 energy providers and agents trying to win your business, but not all of them are looking out for your best interests.

Many agents or brokers represent the interest of a single supplier, or perhaps two or three energy suppliers.  These energy suppliers are not necessarily chosen for their low rates or superior customer service; they are chosen because these suppliers will pay the broker the highest commission for any sales.  The broker thus acts less as an independent matchmaker, and more as a supplier’s solicitor, with little difference from being an employee of that energy provider.

SaveOnEnergy.com is different.  Instead of a broker acting as a sales arm of an energy supplier, SaveOnEnergy.com instead provides a platform where energy providers compete directly for your business.  SaveOnEnergy.com does not represent any supplier’s interest, and therefore can offer the lowest rates, but, just as importantly, can also recommend the most reputable and financially sound energy companies.

SaveOnEnergy.com rigorously screens all the electric companies on its exchange portal, to ensure only the best suppliers which provide high levels of value and customer service are recommended to customers.  The energy industry experts at SaveOnEnergy.com vet all suppliers in the market to weed out shaky or fly-by-night operators that don’t have the wherewithal to survive the volatile energy market.  SaveOnEnergy.com also rejects suppliers that don’t value their customers, and have a high rate of complaints or poor levels of customer service.

To ensure that customers find the most respected energy providers, SaveOnEnergy.com applies its demanding criteria to all energy providers in the market, scrutinizing suppliers on numerous factors such as pricing, plan features, payment options, customer services, business ethics, and financial stability.  Specific criteria include, but are not limited to:

Pricing

• Competitive pricing
• Consistent price savings
• Fixed rates and month-to-month options

Experienced Leadership

• Proven financial stability
• Established and trustworthy management team with significant industry experience

Quality Billing System

• Billing accuracy
• Easy to read invoices with no ’small print’
• Usage and rates that are clearly displayed on the bill
• Online account management
• Paperless billing
• Payment options include credit card, automatic bank draft, online or payment by phone
• Bill payment assistance and payment plans

By applying these metrics to potential electric suppliers, SaveOnEnergy.com provides a peace of mind unavailable from other agents in the Pennsylvania energy market, and ensures that customers find not just a low rate, but an electric company that will stand behind it.

Pennsylvania businesses looking to save money on their electric bills when rate caps come off at the remaining utilities — including PECO in the Philadelphia area — will be bombarded with offers promising lower electric rates from new electric generation suppliers as well as these suppliers’ marketing agents and brokers.  However, only SaveOnEnergy.com, an independent consultant, can provide customers with low electric rates customized for your business that result from competing energy providers battling head-to-head to win your business.  Only SaveOnEnergy.com’s exclusive retail exchange portal assures customers of finding the lowest electric rates in the market, and not the higher rates of a broker’s preferred supplier. 

Starting January 1, 2011, business customers at PECO, Met-Ed, Penelec, and West Penn Power (Allegheny Power) are likely to see electric rate increases as high as 30% if they stay with their utility for their electric supply.  Fortunately, with competition among new alternative energy companies, businesses can lower their electric bills and save thousands, if not millions, each year. 

With the impending end of rate caps at these utilities, over 50 new sales channels, many of them start-ups, are marketing electric supplies to customers.  They all promise lower rates, but many of these sales agents work with only one supplier, or only a handful of preferred suppliers that provide these agents with higher commissions.  It means customers aren’t assured of getting an impartial analysis and may not receive the lowest rates.

SaveOnEnergy.com is different.  Only SaveOnEnergy.com offers business customers the chance to get competing electric rate quotes from up to eight screened and reputable energy providers, ensuring that competition drives the customer’s electric rate lower.  All business customers have to do is take a few minutes to enter their information on SaveOnEnergy.com’s commercial exchange portal, and the information is instantly transmitted to the competing energy suppliers, who then develop customized low rates and contact the customer directly.  Because the electric companies on SaveOnEnergy.com know they are competing against seven other energy suppliers, they are forced to provide their lowest rate to the customer, with no padded margin or profit.  Other electric brokers working with fewer energy providers can’t provide the same low rates because there’s less competition for your business.  Furthermore, these other brokers may not bid your electric load individually, and instead may only quote a more expensive “standing offer” that the energy supplier provides to them to solicit business.  This all means using another broker to choose an electric company will end up costing you more money than using SaveOnEnergy.com to make energy suppliers compete for your business.

Last week we told you about the phenomenal savings Pennsylvanians at PPL Electric are seeing on their electric bills from shopping for a lower electric rate and choosing a new energy provider, known as an electric generation supplier (EGS) in Pennsylvania.  These same savings will soon be available to the remaining parts of the state that haven’t had viable electric competition until now, including the metro Philadelphia area in the PECO Energy service territory.  Customers can shop for these lower rates using SaveOnEnergy.com, which pits competing energy suppliers head-to-head to win your business. 

But what happens if you don’t shop for an alternative energy supplier?  Starting January 1, 2011, the rate caps which have kept Pennsylvania electric rates low will come off, and customers not shopping for a lower rate will be exposed to new utility rates that are projected to increase sharply due to 15 years of rising costs in the energy industry.  If customers don’t shop for a new energy company, and remain with their utility, they will end up paying these higher prices.

How much energy prices will rise starting January 1, 2011 at the remaining rate-capped utilities in Pennsylvania is still uncertain as the utilities are still buying their electric supplies for the 2011 period.  These four utilities are PECO, Met-Ed, Penelec, and West Penn Power (Allegheny).  The expected rate increases vary by utility and by your customer class, but what is a sure thing, based on the PPL experience, is that competing energy providers are going to be able to come in and beat the utility’s price — but you have to shop around to see these savings.

For residential customers, the projected increases in power rates starting January 1, 2011 are up to 26.4% at Met-Ed and 20% at Penelec, with a statewide average of a 10% increase.  Small and mid-sized businesses can expect similar rate hikes, with Met-Ed again being one of the utilities expecting to see the highest increase at nearly 25%, while the hike is forecast at nearly 15% at Penelec.  Large industrial customers at Met-Ed and Penelec can both expect increases of 20% starting January 1, 2011, with the additional caveat that these customers may be moved to volatile “hourly” rates for electricity, which can spike during the peak hours at five or even 10 times the normal price.

At PECO in the Philadelphia region, the story is a bit different, but the end result is the same: customers can save big money by shopping for a lower electric rate.  Because PECO’s rates are currently so high, and given the recession’s impact on power prices, customers at PECO may see a modest decrease in electric rates starting January 1, 2011, depending on where wholesale prices go between now at January.  It’s important to note, however, the if PECO buys its remaining power needs for 2011 at the same price it paid for part of its supplies last fall, residential customers will actually see a 4% increase in rates, while commercial customers won’t see any savings, or any increase.

Therefore, customers should not be content to stick with PECO’s default supply service, because lower rates are available by shopping for a competitive electric company.  While customers who remain with PECO may ultimately see minimal savings, again depending on the price PECO pays for the rest of its power, customers who shop for lower electric power may see savings of 20% or up to 30% depending on their rate class and usage.  Switching to a new energy provider will let customers take greater advantage of the current lows in wholesale power prices, and benefit from the savings that result when electric companies compete head-to-head for their business.  Customers not shopping for a lower electric rate at PECO will be leaving money on the table, perhaps as much as hundreds of dollars per year for residential customers, and thousands or millions of dollars for businesses using more electricity.