Nov. 17--Third in a series

PPL's rate caps will come off less than two months from today, and commercial customers have been shopping around for the best deal to fit their needs and save on the impending increase, estimated at 30 percent.

Representatives from PPL Electric Utilities are encouraging consumers to shop for an electric generation supplier.

One of the solutions is to form an energy consortium. The Brush Valley Regional Chamber of Commerce did just that through OnDemand Energy Solutions, a consulting service that analyzes a business' energy usage and recommends a supplier.

Director Sandy Winhofer said the chamber joined OnDemand through the Columbia-Montour Chamber of Commerce and the Chamber of Commerce Services Corp. OnDemand is able to aggregate the accounts of businesses, municipalities and school districts to shop around for lower prices from suppliers. The energy pool creates a larger buying power and therefore, lower prices.

"We were researching different energy alternatives and we met with PPL. They informed us about some possible pools out there," Winhofer said.

Since there are mostly small businesses in the region, the consortium seemed like the most beneficial product for the region. Winhofer said chamber board members liked the fact that OnDemand was Pennsylvania-based and that the company has more than 10 years of experience with energy deregulation.

Winhofer said about 30 percent of the chamber's 230 members have expressed interest in joining the consortium.

'Physical' costs

One of those members is Star Physical Therapy and Fitness, Marion Heights. Facing thousands of dollars in increased annual energy costs, and with electricity vital to equipment used daily at its facility, Star had little choice to reduce prices except through joining a consortium, said Megan Swartz, office manager.

She said an informative meeting sponsored by the chamber made the decision to join an easy one. OnDemand's analyzation of Star's electricity bills predicted an increase of $2,500 to $3,000.

"That is a significant increase for our business," Swartz said. "It could be the cost of a new piece of equipment or the cost of advertising."

With OnDemand, Swartz hopes to keep paying about the same for energy usage, despite the rate increase.

OnDemand, because of its Pittsburgh base, has experience in dealing with enery deregulation in western Pennsylvania, where rate caps have already expired in the Duquesne and Penn Power service territories.