As winter approaches the colder weather is sure to have a correlating effect to the increase in demand of energy. The BGE price-to-compare rate for small businesses is currently set at 7.722 cents per kWh. The price-to-compare rate is the price given to business customers who have not selected a competitive electric supplier. The price-to-compare rate is often not competitive as BGE’s main focus is to maintain the lines and wires that deliver the electricity from the LDC to the delivery point. Right now the margin of savings between BGE’s price-to-compare rate and suppliers offering competitive rates ranges between 12-20%, depending on load factor and other variables.
A business in this service area may not want to wait much longer to lock in these savings. According to the old Farmer’s Almanac, the 2017-2018 winter is expected to be cooler than the winter we experience in 2016-2017. As the temperatures begin to drop it will not be surprising to see the margin of savings between BGE’s commercial price-to-compare rate and the market begin to diminish. Locking in a fixed commercial electricity rate today will protect a BGE small business from potentially higher prices in the coming months.
There are many electric suppliers competing in the Maryland market for a small business to choose from. The Maryland Public Service Commission must license a competitive electric supplier before they can begin providing rates to small businesses in this area. As the market continues to develop there will be many resources and tools that will come into existence to help a business compare rates based on their individual needs.
Once such tool is electricrate.com. This website is a database that collects and sorts through information from multiple electric suppliers based on the lowest fixed rate and desired term. If you’re a business in the BGE service area and are new to energy deregulation, ElectricRate.com is a good place to start.