THE CHAMBER ENERGY COALITION SPRING 20010 NEWSLETTER

Chamber Energy Coalition Restructures to better serve you


The CEC has worked to save money and stabilize electricity and natural gas costs for businesses and commercial customers for the last ten years since deregulation became law. We have served many customers in both Massachusetts and Connecticut.

To better serve our customers, the CEC has restructured its approach to supply. Instead of being able to offer you only one supplier's pricing, we are now positioned to offer you up to four different national suppliers to quote on your energy needs. This gives you access to competitive pricing and enables us to seek out the supplier with the lowest cost for your business.

We are now in a very volatile period with oil prices fluctuating from as high as $147/bbl during 2008 to around $85/bbl at the present. This dramatic and historic swing has currently resulted in lower electricity costs for customers who enter into longer-term contracts with independent suppliers. The real question is: "have energy prices bottomed out or will they continue to fall as the recession slows consumption even more?"

The answer is one that is very complex. Power suppliers buy their fuels on a long term basis too, and are now probably working off contracts that were agreed to when oil and gas were rising in price so their cost for producing electricity does not come down nearly as fast as the prominent "$/bbl” quoted in the daily news. However, there is increasing evidence that we are beginning to come out of the recession, and power usage is showing some increase due to increased schedules and improved sales. We may be at or close to the bottom and when usage rises, prices will follow relatively soon. We currently have access to prices that are the lowest in three to four years through our four national suppliers.

If you would like us to help you with this complex and volatile question, don't hesitate to give us a call at 413-567-4611, or e-mail us at jshriver@chamberenergy.com. We can look at your situation and help you make the contacts with several excellent suppliers to lock in the best price for your business. Now is the best time to buy even if your current contract doesn't expire for the next six to nine months. We can quote pricing for contracts starting that far out with the advantage of locking in at today's low level.

Jim Shriver
President CEC



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