The #1 energy marketplace for small and medium businesses providing instant access to the best energy offers and expert advice from insiders who have served Fortune 500 clients.
The #1 energy marketplace for small and medium businesses providing instant access to the best energy offers and expert advice from insiders who have served Fortune 500 clients.
Energy is not as simple as you may think! Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. Here are some of the most common questions we get from our prospective clients:
Commercial contracts do not have a set fee for cancellation like many residential contracts.
Most suppliers use an equation to calculate the cancellation fee that is a based around how much time is left on term of the contract as well as the market value of electricity at the time of exit compared to the time of entry – think of it as the Supplier recouping their losses.
In other words: it’s hard to say!
If you’re worried about the possibility of needing to exit a contract before the contract term completes, consider signing a shorter-term agreement.
Before you cancel your agreement, let us help you consider your termination options.
The utility will need two things to energize a meter or put a meter into a new business name:
When the enrollment type for a supply agreement is listed as Move-In, that tells the supplier that they need to send an order to the utility that says “hey, turn the lights on at this meter!”
Each city has their own regulations around what is needed for a new business to get power. Most require a Certificate of Occupancy or Inspection. To find out what your city requires, find your location on this list, or reach out to your City Inspection department.
If you need to know the status of your move-in, call your utility and have your rep of record (supplier) and your service address handy.
For Texas utilities, a supply agreement will need to designate the enrollment type. In short, a “Switch” is when a business already has power with a supplier and is renewing their agreement with the same supplier or switching to another supplier. A “Move In” is when a business is first moving to a new location or needs to move the power into their company’s name.
Though rates are not affected by the enrollment type, the process on how a supplier books your agreement is. So, it’s important that you select the correct choice!
A Priority Move-In is the enrollment type to select if you need electricity ASAP. There are limited options for Priority Move-Ins and our go-to solution is a one-month agreement with Green Mountain.
From the time an order is signed by the end user, a supplier normally takes 2-4 business days to book the order and submit the move-in order to the utility. The number one reason for meters failing to energize on time is a hold from the City due to a needed inspection. If your lights aren’t on after 48 hours, call your utility to see what they are waiting for.
Don’t worry – your power won’t get turned off! But this is not an excuse not to get your contract renewed.
Most often, Suppliers will charge a month-to-month holdover rate until the meter is placed on another supply agreement. This holdover rate is usually linked to the market price of the commodity plus a hefty margin.
Don’t be misled by “cheaper” rates for commercial plans over residential plans. You are comparing apples to oranges. Residential plans include the transmission and distribution fees from the utility all lumped into one rate. Commercial plans separate the two components – supply (which is what you’re shopping for) and transmission/distribution.
The more information we can give to suppliers, the more tailored rates they can provide. They can make assumptions about your electric usage load based off your monthly spend or kWh, which is how you arrive at the rates you see online.
To give more granular information to the supplier for bidding, a custom price includes the step of requesting historical usage from the utility. We request that usage on your behalf once you sign a non-binding Letter of Authorization. Depending on your utility, it can take a few days to receive that usage file back and then a few more days to get pricing from the supplier.
If you’re interested in a custom quote, fill out a form or give us a call!
The price of electricity changes daily (sometimes hourly!) and your contracted rate is set on the day that you sign your agreement. Many factors go into the electricity commodity market – check out market information here.
For many residential contracts, you can request an Energy Facts Label (EFL), which is a standardized summary of the supplier offer. This is not a requirement for commercial agreements and therefore these supply agreements often do not contain EFLs.
Not to worry! All of the supply agreements you see offered on this website are fully fixed supply which means you pay the same supply rate regardless of your monthly usage.
No, 5 Digital Energy gets paid a brokerage fee that is baked into the rates you see online. This fee is comparable to the commission that a supplier’s sales representative would get if you shop directly with a supplier. When you execute on 5 Digital Energy, the contract is only between your business and the supplier. As you pay your electricity invoices, the supplier pays us that fee (a fraction of a cent per kWh). You’re paying the commission regardless of where you shop as it is included in the contracted rate. 5 Digital Energy puts the same fee on all Supplier’s offers in order to ensure fair competition and the most competitive rates to the end user.
There are a ton of websites that compare different supplier rates for residential and commercial electricity – what makes 5 Digital Energy different? Simply put, we are an energy advisory firm that built a website; not a website firm that built an energy advisory division. We have deep rooted relationships with Suppliers we trust to give you fair rates and fair terms of service. Our core business is understanding power markets, energy regulations and sustainability options and pairing that with our customer’s needs. Anyone can request offers from suppliers, not everyone can advise you on what is best for your long term strategies.
No, since our inception in 2011, we have been a business helping other businesses. While we don’t have any residential offers on the 5 Digital Energy website, we do recommend that you find a fully fixed rate and avoid any gimmicks like “free nights and weekends”.
There are NO direct fees charged to the client to shop and execute a contract on 5 Digital Energy. We are paid a brokerage fee from the chosen supplier as you pay your electricity invoices. We apply the same fee (a fraction of a cent/kWh) to all Suppliers’ offers. This fee is included in the rates that you see online.
Your first call should be your electricity supplier as they are the ones you in a contract with. However, 5 Digital Energy will always be here to help assist in customer service matters should your supplier not be as responsive as you need them to be.
Yes, you have a lot of options when shopping for electricity however if you don’t shop around, you risk not keeping that supplier honest with their rates. At 5 Digital Energy, we display apples to apples bids for your commercial electricity contracts that are reflective of the given market conditions and help ensure that you are getting the best possible value for your energy dollars.
When you request for a DocuSign agreement, that contract is between your business and the supplier. To pass through correct information to the contract for signature, the website will be requesting your contact information, mailing address and federal tax identification number. At no point will you be entering any financial information on this website as there is no transaction occurring between your business and 5 Digital Energy.
Contact our team at partners@digitalenergyby5.com or (844) 385-0755