Boston Buying Power, as part of the City of Boston's continued effort to assist small businesses in innovative ways, was launched in early November 2008 by Mayor Thomas M. Menino designed to harness buying power for the small business sector through access to the deregulated energy market. Boston Buying Power allows small businesses to benefit from competitive electricity and natural gas rates negotiated by an outside broker on behalf of the purchasing group.

Mayor Thomas M. Menino joined Department of Neighborhood Development Director Evelyn Friedman, Taylor Consulting and Contracting Chief Operating Officer Scott Stiner, and Model Hardware owner Bob Webber, at the announcement of Boston Buying Power in Allston Village on Thursday, November 13, 2008. Read more . . .

Visit bostonbuyingpower.com to learn more and sign up!



1. Who is joining Boston Buying Power?
Information about specific participants is kept confidential, but all sizes and types of businesses will be participating from the smallest of restaurants to the largest of industrial companies across Boston. With the City of Boston officially and enthusiastically supporting this program, within six months we expect Boston Buying Power to be the single largest purchaser of energy in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts!

2. I like my utility service and/or deregulated supplier. Will I have to switch?
Your local utility will always remain your service provider, including all maintenance, delivery and critical needs of your service lines. Energy Auction maximizes your purchasing power by providing a pool of accounts for all regional suppliers to compete for your energy requirements. Many suppliers that currently service New England will be part of that process.

3. Where will I send my utility checks each month?
You will pay the supplier who is awarded the contract for your energy supply and you will continue to pay your local utility for the delivery of energy as you presently do now.

4. Are these guaranteed savings?
Although savings are certainly possible and even likely there can be no long-term guarantees. If and when we are able to find a supplier that can meet the agreed upon conditions for providing Boston Buying Power participants with electric generation or natural gas service, what we CAN guarantee is this: Energy Auction will provide the most competitive electricity and natural gas rates the market has to offer! Because when energy suppliers compete, you win! Even more important, we can lock-in that price for you for up to five years! So not only will you immediately get the best available price, you’ll also get the peace of mind that comes from long-term price certainty and budget stability.

5. Who will I call when I have a problem?
You will still call NStar or National Grid. They will remain your local utility and will continue maintaining the power and gas lines and infrastructure.

6. Why should I join Boston Buying Power? Can’t I do this on my own?
Ask yourself if you're better off doing it on your own, or if you're better off doing it as part of an extremely large group. Any smart businessperson knows that no matter what you're buying, if you want the lowest possible price, the best way to get it is to buy inbulk. Moreover, Boston Buying Power utilizes skilled negotiators with many years of experience in the wholesale energy markets, as well as the state-of-the-art Energy Auction platform. This expertise and experience works for you while you work on your real priority your business.

7. This sounds almost too good to be true. What's the catch?
The only "catch" is that there is a possibility we might never be able to find you a better rate than the one you are already getting from your current utility, in which case, nothing happens. The pool never activates and you would continue using NStar or National Grid as your supplier. This scenario, however, is highly unlikely. It may not happen immediately, but we are confident that we’ll eventually be able to find you a better rate.

8. If there is no direct cost to my business to participate, how does Boston Buying Power pay for all these benefits?
A management fee for organizing and maintaining the pool will be paid directly to Boston Buying Power by the selected supplier, and that fee will be built-in to your electric or natural gas rate, so you won’t be charged anything directly from us. The price you see is the only price you will pay.

9. What is meant by the "price-sensitive" and "time-sensitive" sections of thebuying pool?
All customers currently in deregulated agreements, or who wish to purchase by a certain date become a participant in the time-sensitive pool. These aggregations are designed to look for the best market conditions, but require a purchase to be made by a certain date based upon the expiration of its participant's current agreements. Alternatively, all customers currently purchasing from NStar or National Grid rate schedules participate in a price-sensitive pool. These aggregations will only trigger when the most optimal conditions exist between those local utility rates and a better deregulated offer.

10. How is the City of Boston involved with this program?
The City of Boston, through its Department of Neighborhood Development, prepared a national RFR (Request for Response) to attract an energy consulting and management company to procure electricity and natural gas in the deregulated markets on behalf of a city wide energy buying group, in an effort to respond to increasing energy costs of energy and its adverse effect on Boston's small business sector. Proposals from the responding companies were then thoroughly reviewed, and finalists underwent a comprehensive interview process. Utility Module and Energy Auction were ultimately selected because the City believes them to be the superior products for Boston area businesses to achieve the maximum reductions of both costs and usage.

11. What happens if NStar's or National Grid’s rates go down after the pool isactivated?
Although not very likely over the long-term, that is a risk. Historical trends through the years, as well as the opinions of virtually all experts in the field, clearly indicate that rates will continue to be quite volatile in the short term, but will keep moving higher in the long-term. Still, the possibility exists that rates could decline. Regardless, all participants are still obligated to honor their agreements. On the other hand, if energy prices INCREASE after the pool is activated --- a common scenario --- you wouldn’t want the supplier who won our business to be able to back out of the deal, would you? Well, it works the same way in the other direction, too.