Lower Your Company's
Monthly Utility
Bills:
Join the Howard
County Chamber
Commercial Energy
Co-Op
The Howard County
Chamber of Commerce
developed an energy
purchasing
cooperative program
in 2006 to help
Chamber members
lower their monthly
utility bills and
provide long term
budget stability in
a deregulated
market.
Through the
Howard County
Chamber of Commerce
Energy Co-op,
members pool their
buying power and get
the best available
competitive market
price for a typical
term of 36 months.
The program also
saves Chamber
members the time and
expense of
evaluating offers
from multiple
suppliers. Members
in the first
enrollment group
with contracts
ending in 2008,
2009, & 2010 have
saved up to 14% off
the utility default
rate in spite of the
lowest energy prices
in four years.
Now is an
excellent time for
members interested
in achieving long
term energy cost
savings and
stability to
consider joining in
the cooperative.
New this year:
The application fee
is just $150…
period. This covers
both your
electricity and
natural gas accounts
no matter how many
locations you have!
WHO IS ELIGIBLE TO
PARTICIPATE?
Chamber member
businesses with
commercial utility
accounts from BGE,
PEPCO, Alleghany
Power, or DelMarVa
Power located in
Maryland, Delaware,
and The District of
Columbia are
eligible to
participate in the
Commercial
Energy Co-Op.
HOW DOES THE CO-OP
WORK?
Since 1995, CQI
has over 32,000
commercial
procurement accounts
in more than 19,000
locations. Through
their experience,
CQI has found that
most businesses do
not have the
expertise or
leverage required to
secure the best
energy rates. So,
instead of each
individual business
shopping around for
and ultimately
negotiating on their
own, CQI uses group
leverage to benefit
every business that
takes part. They
aggregate hundreds
of business accounts
at a time, and
present the entire
“energy load” of kWh
to multiple
suppliers
simultaneously. This
competitive bid
process results in
the most competitive
rates in the
marketplace being
offered to our co-op
members.
Once the most
favorable supplier
has been identified
and a contract has
been signed, your
current local
Utility Company will
still distribute the
electricity and/or
natural gas to your
place of business.
They maintain the
lines, read your
meter, and still
bill you for
distribution.
Because of
deregulation, this
is the function of
their business and
what they are
focused on. Your
utility is also
still your point of
contact for any
service/power outage
related issue.
CQI Associates
communicates
regularly with all
co-op members and
makes itself
available for any
clients questions
during the entire
term of the
contract. In fact
many chamber co-op
procurement clients
also turn to CQI
Associates for other
energy related
consulting
assistance. As a
full-service energy
consulting firm, CQI
is an industry
leader with
expertise in energy
and environmental
management, energy
audits, energy
assessments, LEED
certifications, and
corporate
sustainability
projects.
HOW DO I SIGN UP?
Click
here for Commercial
Energy Co-Op
Click here for
Residential Energy
Co-Op
