How To Find A Commercial Energy Provider You Can Trust
Certain deregulation laws have prompted many businesses to split energy costs into two utility bills: the supply portion and the delivery portion. The supply portion of your energy bill has been opened up to a lot of competition amongst commercial energy providers.
Partnering with a commercial energy provider does not impact the reliability and safety of your service. Rather, moving to a different supplier than that of your gas or electric utility is an economic decision to achieve better energy management and reduce energy costs.
Since deregulation laws took effect, a number of commercial energy management services have surfaced. Knowing which commercial energy provider to partner with might seem daunting, but it's actually a positive situation to have so many choices. Do your due diligence and you gain a trusted partner to help you lower your utility bills, not just month over month, but through strategies that have a far-reaching, long-term impact on lowering your energy costs.
When looking to partner with a commercial energy provider, consider the following attributes of a trustworthy third-party supplier:
Your Supplier Should Be Attentive From The Start
You're going to have a lot of questions about your energy bill and the supplier's costs, as well as the business benefits of investing in commercial energy management.
If the supplier you're researching doesn't show care and attention upfront, it's a sign they aren't completely invested in learning about your needs. If they aren't interested in learning your needs, they aren't able to help you achieve long-lasting savings on your utility bill.
Your Supplier Should Meet With You To Walk You Through Your Options
A few items you and your potential commercial energy provider should discuss in person before you decide to partner with them:
- Pricing options and the effects of a fixed versus variable pricing structure
- Contract language and any penalties you might incur
- Built-in steps for upgrades or cancellation fees, and any introductory offers
- Options to consolidate your utility bill from supplier and delivery service
- Products or services offered beyond energy supplies (i.e. consulting services)
Regardless of the commercial energy provider you choose to partner with, you want to have information on all of the above features, services and offerings. Otherwise, you have no idea what you're signing up for.
Your Supplier Should Customize Your Energy Costs Management
To achieve true cost-saving results from your commercial energy management partnership, their services and contract language need to be flexible to meet your exact business. Anything else is going to result in the supplier trying to fit you into their structure, which only stands to benefit the supplier.
Every business is different when it comes to how much energy they need to use and their amount of risk tolerance. A trusted potential commercial energy provider is focused on understanding your business's energy usage and finding customized ways to achieve your long-term financial goals.
