A truly competitive market will take time to develop. One way that all consumers - residential, business, government, and other organizations - can begin to benefit from potential energy savings is to participate in an energy buying group. Buying groups, and your participation in them, will also help speed the development of New Hampshire's new energy marketplace.

What is a buying group?
A buying group is a group of energy users who join together to buy their energy in bulk. These groups may be formed by consumers, or they may be formed by a third party known as an aggregator to help organize consumers into a buying group. The aggregator researches the options among energy suppliers and identifies price and contract terms for the buying group's members.

Consumers may decide to join buying groups for the potential savings, for the convenience, or to support a specific cause. However, they should shop around for the buying group that best fits their needs, just as if they were shopping for an energy supplier on their own.

Forming a Buying Group
The first step in becoming an aggregator is to determine the goal of the buying group you will be forming. Are you simply looking for the lowest price for your members? Are you interested in finding an energy supplier that uses environmentally friendly energy generation sources? Or, one that supports a specific cause?

Before you form your buying group, you'll need to register with the New Hampshire Public Utilities Commission. For more information on how to register please contact us.You may then want to begin researching what energy suppliers are available, to further focus your goals.

Next, you may want to contact your organization's members, to determine the interest level of your potential buying group. This will give you an idea of how many people may actually participate in your group. You may find that you want to join your organization with another organization to create an even larger, more appealing load for energy suppliers.

Creating Your Energy Contract
It will be important that you gather information on the energy load profiles of your members, which will help energy suppliers determine how best to meet your group's needs. You can use this information to determine whether it would be beneficial to join with another group, to create a more balanced energy load. You can also use this preliminary information to negotiate with energy suppliers, to establish price and other contract terms. Then, develop a contract to send to your members that they would sign and return to you if they want to join the buying group.

It is a very good idea to have a legal professional review the contract you negotiate with an energy supplier, to ensure protection for the members of the buying group and for the buying group itself.

For More Information
Forming a buying group can be an effective way to negotiate lower energy rates, and offer an additional benefit to your organization's members. It can also help speed up the development of New Hampshire's energy market, which will benefit all consumers.

If you would like more information on how to set up a buying group or find out about established buying groups, call the New Hampshire Public Utilities Commission's Answer Center at 1-800-528-2070.

Questions to Consider Before You Get Started

• Do you know your group's load profile (e.g., geographic location, usage times, seasonal changes, etc.)? By understanding your group, the energy supplier can give you the best price because they understand exactly what needs to be provided.
• Does your vision for the buying group fit with your organization's mission?
• What will be your most important selection criteria when considering energy suppliers - for example: price, reliability, environmental impacts, level of risk, flexibility of contract?
• Are you looking for a short-term or long-term contract?
• Should you form an advisory committee that includes some members from your group, to ensure their interests are represented?
• What will your membership policies be?
• Do you have the resources to provide on-going communication with your group's members? This can include the continuous marketing of your buying group, and the monitoring and adjusting of your contract over time.