A powerful choice: Where should you buy electricity?

Thanks to California, the phrase electric-utility deregulation makes people anxious these days. Ready or not, though, Texas will deregulate power delivery starting in 2002. Commercial customers of investor-owned utilities like Reliant and TXU will have a choice when it comes to purchasing electricity. Building owners and property managers will face new decisions with the prospect of carving out additional savings. But what’s the best way to sort through choices where once there were none?

Information is the key

Now is the time to educate yourself on the situation, begin investigating your options, determine where you stand, and define your goals. A good starting point is to determine your property’s (or properties’) current usage. It’s important to know more than total costs. Taking into account the actual amount of power you use as well as when you use it gives you a basis for comparing suppliers’ proposals.

More at stake than the bottom line

Like all business decisions, the cheapest solution may not be the best. You should consider the stability of the providers and determine the total package of offerings when making a choice. Some utilities may be able to offer reporting, power-management, or consulting services that ultimately lead to more savings than you will realize from the reduced cost of the power alone.

To go outside or not?

One early decision facing owners and mangers is whether to handle energy management in-house or seek outside help from a consultant or energy service provider. This choice hinges in part on how much expertise you currently have in-house or are willing and able to learn quickly.

Finding savings in other places

Many experts predict energy-deregulation savings to property owners will be small if any are realized at all. But the attention that owners and managers pay to energy use could make a real difference. Actions such as installing new controlling equipment, automating systems, updating lighting and other equipment, and monitoring and adjusting current use patterns can potentially cut energy use by a significant amount.

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