To take advantage of the new market for electricity, business customers need to:

Know Their Usage. The more electricity you use during peak periods (usually hot summer days, unfortunately when demand is the highest), the more your prices go up. However, it will help you negotiate a better price if you know your usage patterns. To prepare, assemble your last 12 months bills and list the total energy (kWh) and maximum power (kW) used each month.

Examine Contracts Carefully. Promises of savings don't always add up on your total bill, so beware of ambiguous supplier claims. Some questions to ask include:

• What's the price? Is it fixed or will it vary? If its fixed, is it guaranteed? For how long? If it varies, with what? How uncertain is the factor it is tied to?
• Is the transition charge included? Are all other costs and fees included?
• What's the length of the contract? If I want out, is there a charge?
• Who do I call to discuss my bill? What are my billing options?
• Given my usage patterns, are there any special discounts or programs available to me?
• Are you registered/licensed with the state public utilities commission?

Prices and conditions can be negotiated. Get multiple bids and make sure the potential suppliers know you have other options. Also, try to compare any offers on a consistent basis. Different types of terms may make this difficult, especially if the costs are based on your unique usage patterns. This may require some calculations based on recent information about your past electricity usage. You should expect diverse offers that change over time.

Go Green? Some suppliers offer "green" power that is produced using renewable sources of power such as wind, solar, geothermal, biomass or small hydroelectric. This type of power costs more, but makes sense to some environmentally concerned consumers. In California, Patagonia (the manufacturer of high-quality outdoor clothing) purchases 100 percent green power from a wind farm.

Consider Aggregation. Most business customers are small fish in the electricity pond. To take advantage of the deregulation, you may have to join forces with others to leverage purchasing power and better prices. Typically, these organizations work through city/county governments, business or trade associations, churches or other membership-based organizations. Some aggregators are actually electric suppliers who have organized a group of buyers, whereas others organize the buyers and negotiate with a supplier on behalf of the group. Contact your local or national trade association to see if any plans for aggregating have been formulated.

Ultimately, it may pay to stick with the local utility until suppliers start paying more attention to smaller businesses. "We decided to stick with our local utility and try to negotiate a better rate when deregulation hit," says Jason Sheaffer, Pinch Pond Campground near Lancaster, PA. "We like the service we've gotten and try to shop locally. We do, however, think that aggregation has possibilities and have discussed this option."