Business Electricity Outlook for 2013

Business Electricity Outlook for 2013

Photo by Victor1558
Photo by Victor1558

The coming years could be dicey when it comes to business electricity rates in the state of Texas. For a while now, there has been concern that Texas may not be set up to produce enough commercial electricity to meet demand. The shortage could impact the lone star state as soon as next summer—just months from now.

However, The Fort Worth Star-Telegram recently reported some encouraging news: ERCOT (the Electric Reliability Council of Texas) believes, according to the most recent projections, that there will not be a shortage during the summer of 2013.

Explaining the cause of the concern, the Star-Telegram reported:

The adequacy of Texas’ electricity supply has been of concern because wholesale power prices have been so low they are discouraging companies from building new power plants. The Public Utility Commission earlier this year raised the regulatory ceiling on power prices by 50 percent in an effort to attract more power producers, but it generally takes two or three years for a large project to move from permitting to completion.

You can easily see how that could translate to problems for electricity providers and business electricity customers alike. Nevertheless, the good news is that Texas “should have enough juice to meet the needs of Texans during the peak air conditioning season next summer, even though the margin of supply over demand isn’t quite as large as it would like,” according to the article. This is very good news for businesses. A shortage, if/when encountered, would likely raise commercial electricity rates significantly.

While we’re happy to report this positive news to you, here at Live Energy we also encourage you to be proactive in your business electricity arrangements. Sure, you could take this good news as a sign that things will be fine through next summer and wait to secure a long term contract. But these projections are just projections, not promises. This is what we hope the summer of 2013 will look like, but we really don’t know.

Said another way, there simply are no guarantees. If a power plant goes offline, for example, we could encounter a supply shortfall before the summer even hits. Weather, market conditions, regulatory changes and a handful of other factors also play major roles in determining commercial electricity rates. With so many things in flux, the smart move is to be proactive.

Compare electricity rates now, while the market is stable and the outlook secure, not later when rates could easily be higher.

The team of experts at Live Energy have more than a decade of experience working with businesses of all sizes. And while we are based in Texas, we also work with clients nationwide. Wherever you are located, whatever your business size, we are equipped to help you sift through your business electricity options and find the one that will work best for your organization. We encourage you to contact us and begin the process of scoping out a custom strategy for your company. Now is an excellent time to start that dialogue.

Call the experts at Live Energy today at 888-341-9155. With our help, your business electricity outlook could be good for years to come.

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