January 19, 2005—EnergyWindow, Inc., a supplier of information technology-based tools and consulting to manage the energy supply used by businesses, offered advice on the pending electricity rate increases for commercial and industrial energy users in Washington, D.C.: buy electricity now to lock in better rates before the increases become effective for a mandatory 12-month period.
Online energy procurement technology—which greatly speeds the process of building requests for quotation and obtaining bids for competitive energy contracts—will allow energy users to act quickly to meet the deadline.
The Washington, D.C. Public Utilities Commission formerly had ruled that any customer served by the utility when the new Standard Offer Service, or SOS, rates will take effect would be forced to remain on tariff rates for 12 months if they hadn’t switched by the meter-read date applying to Feb. 8, 2005.
To respond to the concerns of several groups who opposed the initial implementation of this minimum-stay requirement, the PUC extended the deadline for shopping for competitive electricity rates until the end of the third billing cycle after Feb. 8, 2005. The new SOS rates will represent a cost increase of an average of 23 percent for small commercial end-users and significantly more for larger accounts.
“While business energy users are facing double-digit increases in energy costs, recent dramatic decreases in natural gas and electricity wholesale rates (and input from competitive energy suppliers) indicate that considerable savings may be available,” said Dr. Jack Mason, president of EnergyWindow, Inc. “Business energy users who want to hold the line on rising energy costs should seriously consider soliciting bids from competitive energy suppliers in time to take advantage of current lower competitive rates, switch service and avoid the higher rates for the 12-month minimum stay.”
Many companies will question whether they have time to pursue a competitive energy bid, according to Dr. Mason. However, the use of online energy procurement technology can enable companies to seek out competitive bids and sign up for lower rates. “EnergyWindow is licensed in Washington, D.C. and can use its Web-based energy sourcing technology to gather energy usage data, build requests for quotation, and conduct an online auction to find the best savings available,” said Mason.
There is no direct cost or risk to pursue a competitive energy bid. But companies must hurry if they want to switch to a competitive energy supplier before the deadline.
For more information, contact EnergyWindow.
