Photo by Yuchao L

We like easy answers. We are presented with problems every single day, and business leaders sometimes feel that the bulk of their time is spent seeking answers. When the answer is right there in plain sight, that’s a rare joy. Rare because, all too often, the answers to business-related questions are hidden—in the numbers, in knowing how to deal with people, in lines of code, or even in years of experience. If you’ve been managing a business for even a short while, you know the truth of this all too well.

Of course, sales people understand the appeal of easy answers, too. That’s why every infomercial ever filmed claims to deliver an easy, quick, effortless fix to one problem or another. And those of us who sell and broker commercial electricity know the appeal of easy answers, as well. Here at Live Energy, we like to shoot straight with our clients, which is why we’ll tell you upfront, there simply is no easy answer when it comes to your business electricity arrangements. Commercial electricity is nothing if not complex.

You’ve probably been through the process of comparing electricity rates and electricity providers for your home. Many business owners approach commercial electricity rates with the assumption that business and residential power are more or less the same thing. They are not. Whereas you have only a handful of alternatives when choosing an energy plan for your home, there are considerably more options for a commercial customer. How many more? Dozens.

Business electricity rates can be fixed, variable, based on heat rate, based on the MCPE (or “market clearing price for energy”), or a combination of these. The term of your contract can be as short as a few months to as long as 5 years in some cases. You need to take into account bandwidth restrictions, which can be costly if you plan to grow or shrink your business in the next few years. And, on top of all that, timing is everything when it comes to commercial electricity. The energy market is always on the move. The price changes so frequently that getting a good rate could come down to the day and even time of day when you contract.

As much as we would like to tell you there’s a simple formula for determining which combination of options will save you the most money, there isn’t. What we can offer you, however, is the assistance of our expert team. We’ve been helping businesses of all shapes and sizes save money on their commercial electricity costs for more than a decade. Based in our home state of Texas, we have local clients as well as clients in other deregulated states. Big or small, a single location or a large network of nationwide locations, we can help you find the business electricity rate that will fit your organization. We can’t make the answer easy, but we can do the hard work of finding the right answer for you. That not only saves you money—it saves you time, too.

The answer may not be easy to find, but there’s no reason for you to do the hard work all on your own. We are Live Energy. Call us today at 888-341-9155 to learn more about how we can help you develop a comprehensive commercial electricity strategy.

Adapted from a photo by Pete

Expertise is a valuable thing. There’s no arguing with that. Perhaps that’s why so many people turn to an expert when dealing with an obstacle beyond their experience. When you hear your car making a strange sound, for example, you probably take it to an auto shop. After all, a trained mechanic is going to know more about how to fix your car than you will, right? Granted, you’ll have to pay to have him run diagnostic tests and if he comes across anything that needs to be fixed, there will be a repair bill, as well, but that’s the cost of keeping your car running. And, hey, it’s cheaper in most cases than the cost of buying a new car.

Similarly, when you wake up one day with a fever and an assortment of other not-so-fun symptoms, you head on over to your doctor’s office. Being sick isn’t fun, and, of course, you want to make sure that whatever is ailing you isn’t serious. You go to your doctor because she’s an expert. She’s the one with the degree, and she’s the one who will be able to determine why you’re sick and what will make you better. Like going to your mechanic, it’ll set you back a few bucks (and a little time), but, in the end, you’ll save time and money going to the doctor early on. You’ll be well (and more productive) a whole lot sooner if you rely on her experience and knowledge.

There are a number of other times in life when we look to an expert to guide us, with the understanding that an expert’s advice is valuable. It may not surprise you, then, to learn that the same is true when it comes to your business electricity arrangements.

It may sound like an easy thing to compare electricity rates and electricity providers, but in reality, it’s not so simple. There are dozens of options available to even a small business owner. It’s a tall order to determine which type of rate will be best for your business, not to mention the issue of timing. The commercial electricity market is always in flux. In other words, the price of power is always changing. Signing a commercial electricity contract at the right time can save you a significant amount of money. And if you have multiple locations, if your business is seasonal, if you have growth goals, financial limitations, a commitment to energy efficiency or any number of other factors, your decision making process just got considerably more complicated.

But there’s some good news. If your car needed work, you’d take it to your mechanic. If you were sick, you’d go to the doctor. When you need help with your commercial electricity plan, there’s an expert for that, too: a business electricity broker, like Live Energy.

The experts at Live Energy have been working with business owners for more than a decade. We partner with small and large organizations, both inside and outside our home state of Texas, and we have a proven track record for saving our clients both time and money. We can put our extensive experience to work for you, saving you the headache and hassle of tackling your business electricity arrangements on your own.

Give the Live Energy team a call today at 888-341-9155. Discover the advantage of working with the experts.

Original Photo by epSos.de

Business, like the commercial electricity market, is always changing. Many of the models and strategies we used in the past have gone one of two ways: they’ve evolved or they’ve gone extinct. In some cases, extinction is a good option. Consider, for example, how much more equality exists in the workplace today compared to 50 years ago. Very few of us mourn the death of prejudice and preferential treatment!

But while some modes of business thinking die out, others evolve. Evolution, the process of growing and developing, is the sign of a healthy degree of adaptability in a business. Organizations that refuse to embrace change often suffer for it. Can you imagine a successful business that doesn’t utilize email? As electronic communication of all forms—first beepers, and then later cell phones, emails, instant messaging and SMS messaging—has developed, we’ve changed the way we share information with each other. We’ve evolved.

Any business that refuses to grow and develop over time, adjusting strategies to better meet the demands of the changing world, will go extinct, rather like our big friend pictured above.

These days, we live in a wired world. So many of the tools we use are electronic. You simply cannot run a business without being plugged in, and all those tech tools need juice. Business electricity is an essential part of your operations—a piece of the puzzle you cannot function without.

But is your commercial electricity strategy a dinosaur? Are you still contracting for power the way you did 10 years ago? The business electricity market has changed a lot in that time. Deregulation allows you to choose your commercial electricity provider, and your choices hardly stop there. If you’re still managing your energy arrangements the way you always have, if your business electricity strategy hasn’t evolved as the marketplace has changed, you are almost certainly missing out on savings.

One of the powerful tools available to you, and a big leap forward in how you make your power arrangements, is partnering with a business electricity broker, like Live Energy. Our team of experts have been working with businesses of all shapes and sizes, located all over the country, for more than 10 years. Our job is to help our clients compare electricity rates and providers, sifting through all the available options and pinpointing the one that will help lower your energy costs both now and for years to come. And we’re good at our job.

You have dozens of options when it comes to your commercial electricity arrangements. That’s why our first step is to listen to you. We will take the time to learn about your operations, and then customize a strategy that will fit your organization like a glove. The end result is that you save both time and money.

Give the pros at Live Energy the opportunity to show you how easy it can be to work with a trusted, proven commercial electricity broker. Call us today at 888-341-9155. We’ll help you take your energy strategy to the next level.

Photo by Nils Vik

The great commercial electricity debate continues in Texas. Last Thursday, regulators and energy generators met to discuss the issue of electric reliability in the Lone Star State. Of particular concern are the upcoming summer months. While last summer was relatively mild, a heat wave like the one we experienced in 2011 would almost certainly mean rolling blackouts for residential and business electricity customers in Texas, and no one wants that.

As reported by the Dallas Morning News, “All [participants] agreed that prices were key, but they took different sides on whether that should come from a premium on electricity bills for spare capacity or from conservation tied to higher prices during peak usage.” For you, the commercial electricity consumer, there’s only one way to read that: higher prices appear to be inevitable.

In many ways, this is the same song, new verse. We’ve known for some time now that Texas desperately needs to increase its generation capacity. The increase in the cap of the wholesale electricity price last August (from 3,000 per megawatt hour to $4,500 per megawatt hour) was meant to entice generators to build new plants in Texas. The hope is that additional generation will enable Texans to avoid outages due to a shortfall. There is a great deal of debate about whether or not this strategy will prove effective.

However, there is something you can do in the meantime to help out: conserve power. Putting good conservation practices into place now will allow your organization to transition smoothly into summer. And, if the decision is made to increase prices during peak demand times, you’ll be less impacted by those changes.

Here are three workplace-specific conservation tips you can put into practice right now:

1. When not in use, turn it off. This applies to everything: TVs, computers, monitors, radios and lights. While some electronics (like computers) may have a built in “sleep” function, it’s still best to power-down when you’re not going to be using it for a while.
2. As the temperature rises, close all window blinds. This minimizes the amount of heat entering the workplace, offsetting how much the AC needs to run. (And, of course, the opposite applies on cold days. Open the blinds to allow in more heat and give your heater a break.)
3. Use LED light bulbs. LED bulbs are considerably more energy efficient. If you don’t want to throw out working bulbs, simply stock up on LED bulbs and replace traditional bulbs with LEDs as they burn out.

And there’s one more thing you can do to keep your commercial electricity costs down: call Live Energy. The professionals on our staff can help you compare electricity rates and electricity providers, helping you track down the absolute best business electricity rate for your organization. Given the possibility that rates will be going up in the near future, now is an excellent time to call. Even if you’re currently under contract, we may be able to help you secure a low rate that will protect you from increases in the coming years.

Do your part to keep your costs down. Conserve power and partner with the experts. Call Live Energy today at 888-341-9155. Over the last decade, we’ve helped hundreds of business owners just like you save money on their commercial electricity bill. Give us the opportunity to help you save, too.

Photo by Emilian Robert Vicol

We’ve all had those kinds of days, haven’t we? You’re up and active, somehow you managed to make it into the office, but all you really want to do is find some flat surface (soft if possible, but you’re not in the mood to be picky) and go back to sleep. And if that mood strikes on a Monday, it makes for one torturously long workday!

You’re allowed days like that every once in a while, but, as a general rule, consistent laziness isn’t thought of as a core business strength. Can you remember a single time someone has referred to a coworker as “lazy” and meant it as a compliment? The idea of the American dream is built on the premise that hard work pays off. Laziness, most of us would say, is not the path to success.

But is it wrong to be lazy all the time? Aren’t there some times when it’s good to be lazy?

If you’ve decided to shop for commercial electricity on your own, laziness is not your friend. Comparing electricity rates is a big job, and it requires thorough attention to detail. After all, there’s a lot to think about when selecting a business electricity provider. It’s not just a matter of finding the lowest rate. Energy can be contracted and sold dozens of different ways. You’ll have to investigate each of these options to determine which one fits best with how your business operates. You’ll have to do your homework on each electricity provider you request a quote from. You’ll have to compare those quotes, which can be maddening as there simply isn’t a standard format for presenting commercial electricity rates. And you’ll have to watch the energy market—a market that is, literally, always moving. In order to save money on your business electricity costs, you have to juggle all these variables and move with just the right timing.

There’s not a lot of room for being lazy! But you don’t have to do all that work on your own. In fact, we advise against it.

As a business electricity broker, it’s our job to work with business owners just like you, helping to track down the perfect commercial electricity rate. To help us do that, we have some of the best market-watching technology around, as well as a seasoned team of experts. We have experience working with all kinds of companies—organizations both large and small—all over the country. We know the providers, the different rate structures, the contract options and the pitfalls. In fact, we’ve helped hundreds of business owners save money on their energy costs, and we’d like to help you.

In other words, we’re inviting you to be lazy. There’s no reason for you to spend weeks of your own valuable time reinventing the wheel. Let us help you develop a business electricity strategy that will benefit your organization, both now and for years to come.

We’re Live Energy, and we help business owners save time and money on their business electricity. Call us today at 888-341-9155 to find out how we can help you.

Photo by Rich Anderson

In recent years, it has become increasingly important to make an effort to be more green. “Green” can mean a lot of different things—everything from making efforts to embrace recycling, to going paperless, to weatherization to create a more energy efficient home or office. The connection between all these strategies is a desire to consume fewer of our limited resources, and business electricity is going green, too.

Two articles, both published within the last 10 days, illustrate this point well. First, the Dallas Morning News reported that “[i]n the last five years, wind generation has more than tripled in Texas…” Indeed, wind power is gaining traction in the Lone Star State. The article from the Dallas Morning News continues:

Thanks to wind power, Texas has already shot past its renewable energy goal for 2025. With more transmission lines and an extension of federal tax credits, wind capacity in ERCOT is projected to grow by double-digits this year, and nearly as much next year.

For environmentally concerned Texans, this is good news. Renewable energy generation is better for the planet, making green energy production, like wind, very attractive. But Texas doesn’t just have an abundant supply of wind; we have plenty of sun, too.

Unfortunately, the potential for solar commercial electricity generation isn’t being capitalized on as well as wind generation. An article published by State Impact delivers this disappointing news: Texas “ranks 13th in the nation for total solar power generation, behind such often gloomy places as New Jersey (#2) and New York (#11)…” The report goes on to argue the value of increasing our solar generation in future years.

One important factor for consumers is that, as the Dallas Morning News points out, renewable energy production “not only helps the environment, it’s driving down electricity prices.”

As a business owner, you may not be aware of all the commercial electricity options available designed specifically to be environmentally friendly. Most business electricity providers will allow you the option to contract for a specific percentage of renewable energy, for example. If running a green business is important to you, you need to be aware of these kinds of options when comparing electricity rates and electricity providers.

The team of experts at Live Energy is devoted to helping business owners find the rate and contract that works best for their organization. That virtually always means finding a low rate—we’ve yet to meet the business person who doesn’t want to cut costs!—but it often means taking other variables, like a commitment to green business practices, into account. If running your business in a way that is environmentally mindful is important to you, we have good news: there are green business electricity options out there, and we can help you find them.

Wherever your business is, whatever goals and values you have, we can help you find a commercial electricity rate that will move you toward those goals. That’s what we’ve been helping business owners do for more than a decade. And what’s more, we work with businesses of all shapes and sizes all over the country, not just in our home state of Texas.

If you’d like to learn more about how Live Energy can help you find a business electricity strategy that fits with your organization’s values, call us today at 888-341-9155. We’re here to help you.

Photo by Gretchen Caserotti

We see it all the time: business owners who have taken on the over-whelming task of comparing electricity rates on their own. All too often, they end up paying more for power than they should have been paying. In today’s business climate, that truly is scary. Your business simply can’t survive if you aren’t diligent about cutting costs when and where you can.

It’s an easy trap to fall into, though. Chances are, as a business owner, you make a lot of financial decisions for your organization. Most of them you make on your own. That’s a big part of what running a business is—making the tough decisions that steer the course for the entire organization. On the surface, choosing an electricity provider looks like any other decision. There’s some research to do, options to be weighed, and a choice to be made. Many business owners do it themselves.

And many end up over-paying.

Why? Because the commercial electricity market is a complex thing, and comparing electricity rates is more difficult than it initially appears. The energy market is always moving. The price of power changes every 15 minutes. That means timing is an important factor when it comes to your rate. In order to get a competitive, low rate, you need to have enough familiarity with the market to know when it’s bottomed out, and that kind of familiarity can take years to cultivate. Without a significant amount of experience, it’s extremely difficult to predict trends in the market.

Additionally, commercial electricity can be priced and sold a lot of different ways. Most business owners are aware that fixed rates are available, but that’s only one option. There are many, many more. Knowing what type of pricing structure fits your organization best can do a lot to lower your overall cost.

It also helps to have some experience with comparing electricity rates and electricity providers. Each retail electric provider (or REP) will present options a little differently. As a result, it can be hard to do an apples-to-apples comparison of your options. And even if you are able to read, analyze and accurately interpret each potential contract, that can be a time consuming process. You have a business to run. Each hour you spend pouring over contracts is an hour you can’t spend tending to your business.

Which is why many business owners opt to partner with an experienced business electricity broker, like Live Energy. We have more than 10 years experience in the energy market, and we utilize industry-leading software to track its every move. We can help you pinpoint the best time to contract, saving you precious dollars. We’re familiar with all the available options, as well. Our approach with our clients is consultative. We will listen to your needs, priorities and goals first. That enables us to help you find the type of rate that will fit your business best. And finally, we’re well versed in the art of analyzing commercial electricity contracts. We can do the heavy lifting of research and analysis for you, presenting you with the best available options so that you can make a well informed decision without investing weeks of time doing the research, yourself.

Hundreds of business owners have already discovered the benefits of working with the power-house team at Live Energy. Don’t over-pay for your business electricity. Call us today at 888-341-9155 and we’ll help you find a low rate that fits your organization perfectly.

Photo by Patrick Finnegan

An article published last week in the Dallas Business Journal begins with an ominous warning: “Texas must find a way to encourage power companies to produce more electricity or the state’s economic development could be negatively affected.”

Indeed, this is not a new issue for the Lone Star State. In the last year there has been a good amount of debate and consideration given to the electric reliability of Texas. The potential problem, believe it or not, derives from our success as a state. Texas is growing. Texas residential and business electricity customers use a lot of power, and each year our total consumption increases. It’s a good problem to have in so much as it shows that Texas continues to be a developing state.

But if the Texas commercial electricity market hits the tipping point at which our demand for commercial electricity exceeds our capacity to produce it, that will not be a good thing at all.

Last week, Rolando Pablos resigned from the Public Utility Commission (or PUC), opting to return to his hometown of El Paso. Concern about the stability of the Texas market has been a hot topic, so naturally the subject came up when he announced his departure from the PUC. During his interview with a Dallas Business Journal reporter, he said the following:

“We’re talking about one of the most important issues in our state, which is electricity reliability,” Pablos said. “Because Texas is growing at such a fast rate, we need to be able to keep up with that demand. If we don’t keep up with new generation, we’re going to be in trouble.”

This is an important issue for Texas business owners, and one you should be following. If our demand for commercial electricity exceeds our production, we could end up experiencing rolling blackouts, and that’s never good for business. Furthermore, these kinds of issues often impact the price of energy. Business electricity rates can be pushed higher or lower by a variety of factors, including concern over the stability of the market. Even if Texas doesn’t experience a short-fall of production, the possibility of a short-fall could be enough to make a difference in the prices available when you compare electricity rates.

Of course, the commercial electricity market is always moving, and some degree of volatility is the norm. This concern, while significant, isn’t something to get too alarmed about. Rather, this is evidence of the importance of developing a thorough business electricity strategy.

And that’s where the experts at Live Energy can give you a hand. We’ve spent the last decade building a reputation as an energy broker you can trust. We have experience both in our home state of Texas and in other deregulated markets nationwide. Our skilled team can help you with the difficult task of comparing electricity rates and electricity providers, helping you find the product, contract and term that will lower your organization’s overhead expenses now and for years to come. What’s more, with an expert in your corner, the process of comparing rates will be much smoother and quicker for you.

The end result is that you save both time and money. Give the Live Energy team a call today at 888-341-9155 to learn more about how we can help you.

It’s all about perspective, isn’t it?

Take a look at the picture above, for example. At first glance, it appears that young woman is walking on water. She looks like she’s been caught mid-step, casually making her way across the surface of a fountain. You have to look closer to see that it’s actually an optical trick based on perspective. She’s walking on the opposite lip of the pool, not on the water’s surface.

But at first glance, it can be so misleading.

We find that the same is often true of commercial electricity. When you begin the process of comparing electricity rates, it can seem like a deceptively simple task. “It’s not rocket science,” you may think to yourself. “A lower rate is a better deal. Easy enough.” And that’s true; however, sorting through all the details of a business electricity contract to determine what your total costs will be is a mammoth task. It looks easy, but it’s not.

Dig deeper, and you’ll find your perception changes even more. It’s not just a matter of comparing basic rates. Commercial electricity can be contracted, priced and sold a variety of ways. Literally, dozens of ways. Finding a good business electricity rate isn’t just a matter of finding the lowest price—it’s a matter of finding the pricing model that works best for how your business operates, as well.

As the old analogy goes, comparing electricity rates is like pealing back the layers of an onion. As you delve deeper into the process, you’ll find that your perspective continues to change. It’s anything but simple, and the stakes are high. After all, a well planned commercial electricity strategy has the potential to save your organization thousands. It pays to pick carefully.

While the average person might be fooled at first glance by the picture above, an experienced photographer would see the image for what it is immediately. Similarly, while the job of sifting through electricity providers and business electricity rates might overwhelm the average person, the Live Energy team has the advantage of the kind of expert-level perspective that only comes with doing. We’ve been doing this for more than a decade, and that experience enables us to see things differently.

We know our clients are busy. You have a business to run. The process of selecting a commercial electricity rate can be time consuming and stressful, particularly if you’re committed to doing your due diligence to ensure the lowest possible rate. But there’s no reason for you to go at the task alone. By partnering with a Live Energy expert, you get the advantage of years of knowledge, industry experience and insider expertise. We can help you determine which options fit your business and which don’t. We’ll take into account your goals, preferences, future plans and limitations, and recommend a business electricity rate that lowers your costs, both now and in the future.

The end result for you is that you save both time and money. We’re Live Energy, and we’d like to share our experienced perspective with you. Call us today at 888-341-9155 to learn more about how we can help.

Photo by Nomadic Lass

It’s the wrong time of year to be talking about heat in Texas, and yet, heat is exactly what ERCOT (the Electric Reliability Council of Texas) is feeling right now. For the past several months, there has been much discussion about the stability of Texas’ deregulated energy market. Of specific concern is capacity—does the Lone Star State have enough residential and commercial electricity production (power plants) to meet demand in the next few years.

A substantial heat wave, like the one we experienced in 2011, could be disastrous at our current productivity limits. In August of 2012, the PUC (Public Utility Commission), working with ERCOT, raised the price of wholesale electricity by 50%, from $3,000 per megawatt hour to $4,500 per megawatt hour. The higher wholesale electricity prices are meant to entice generators to build new plants in Texas, but we don’t know yet if the regulatory change will bring about the desired effect. There are certainly critics out there who feel it won’t.

Public Citizen, a consumer advocacy group based in Austin, released a study last week concluding “that paying electricity generators to add capacity is not the solution to meeting the state’s growing demand for power.” The study compared the effectiveness of “energy-only markets” and “capacity markets”—the model that ERCOT is currently exploring by attempting to lure new generation via higher prices for wholesale power. As reported by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, their projections are not encouraging:

“We’d be better off developing a new market structure that creates incentives for people to use less electricity,” said Tom “Smitty” Smith, director of Public Citizen’s Texas office.

Furthermore, according to the same article, Public Citizen’s study is “the second in a week to criticize a capacity market in ERCOT.” The summer of 2013 is shaping up to be a real test of the stability of the commercial electricity market in Texas.

However, we encourage business owners not to panic. Such studies are merely projections of what will and won’t work. They are not indicative of an unavoidable shortfall. The market is stable at this time. Indeed, now is not the time for alarm—now is the time to plan.

Here at Live Energy, helping business owners develop and implement solid business electricity strategies is what we do. The commercial electricity market is unpredictable at best. The only way to keep your energy costs low year to year is to think ahead, and we have the expertise and experience to help you do just that.

Our team of professionals can walk you through the process of comparing electricity rates and electricity providers, helping you find the provider, contract, rate and term that will fit your business best. What’s more, we work with clients all across the country. While we are based in Texas, we’re familiar with all deregulated markets and can help you develop a business electricity plan regardless of your location. In our 10 plus years of service, we’ve helped clients of all shapes and sizes.

The commercial electricity market is always changing. The only way to ensure a low business electricity rate is to stay ahead of the curve, and that’s what we help our clients do. Call us today at 888-341-9155 to find out more about how we can help you.