Small Business Customers

In some ways, small businesses get the worst of both worlds when it comes to energy costs – they don’t have the scale of industrial and large commercial businesses to negotiate lower electric costs, but they have much higher needs than just about any home. A survey from the National Federation of Independent Businesses lists energy as the largest cost for 10 percent of small businesses.

These high costs were a major driving force for the deregulation movement that swept the country in the 1990s and early 2000s, as small businesses in particular started to struggle with rising electricity rates and heating costs.

In fact, in some states like Pennsylvania and Illinois, electricity deregulation was initially restricted to the commercial sector.

As a result, commercial electricity providers like Plymouth Rock Energy have placed a heavy emphasis on bringing down business electric rates and finding other ways to encourage small business energy savings.

Long Island-based Plymouth Rock actually started out in the 1940s delivering coal and fuel oil to New York City, but its services have changed with the times:

Electricity – Launched in 2010, Plymouth Rock’s electric offerings have been some of the most popular, expanding to include service in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. The company also recently expanded the scope of its operations to Maryland, with more prospects on the horizon.

• Fixed and Variable rates – Like most electricity providers, the company offers fixed-rate plans to let businesses protect against fluctuations and variable-rate plans for those that want to take advantage of dips in the market.
• Variable Plus and Hybrid rates – Unlike some less innovative competitors, Plymouth Rock also offers indexed rates that keep certain costs constant, as well as plans that can offer a mixture of indexed, fixed and variable pricing. This lets businesses tailor how much risk they want to take with their electricity costs.

Natural Gas – Plymouth Rock actually got into natural gas years before electricity back in 2004, and has expanded that service to include New York and New Jersey, with plans to enter Pennsylvania, Maryland and other states. The company offers the same diversity of rate plans for natural gas as it does for electricity, offering an easy opportunity to save with recent low prices.

• Fuel oil – Though it’s playing a steadily smaller role in business’ energy mix, New York businesses can still get high-quality, reliable oil services at highly competitive costs.
• Sustainable energy solutions – Plymouth Rock Energy doesn’t just provide energy, but also helps businesses lower their energy needs offering retrofits, benchmarking and other energy efficiency services. The company also offers its demand response and renewable energy programs that businesses can take part in.