In deregulated markets, a retail electricity supplier buys power on the wholesale market and resells it to your business under a fixed, index, or variable contract. The utility still delivers the power and handles outages — the supplier only sets your supply rate. Knowing how to vet suppliers and read their quotes is the difference between a contract that saves money and one that quietly costs more.
Most businesses focus on the rate per kWh and miss the terms that determine what they actually pay. Check three things before you sign.
Every retail supplier must hold a license from the state PUC or PSC where it operates. Verify the license on the regulator's public database before you negotiate. An unlicensed supplier cannot legally serve you — and if it folds, you revert to default service at whatever rate the utility sets.
Ask for an all-in quote that itemizes supply, capacity, transmission, and ancillary charges. Pass-through clauses shift those costs to you mid-contract. A supplier unwilling to break out each line item is hiding the variable portion.
Read the early termination fee, the holdover rate (what you pay after the term expires without renewal), and any bandwidth clause that lets the supplier reprice if your usage moves outside a stated range. Guide: commercial electricity contracts.
The retail electricity market looks more competitive than it is. Many familiar brands share a parent company — and that matters when you think you’re shopping across multiple suppliers. NRG Energy owns Reliant, Direct Energy, Green Mountain Energy, and Cirro Energy. Vistra owns TXU Energy, 4Change Energy, Dynegy, and Ambit Energy. The same parent does not mean the same price: each brand quotes independently, so compare across corporate families, not just across brand names. For a full breakdown, see largest electricity companies .
Supplier availability and pricing vary by utility territory. Start with your state to see which suppliers are active and what rates look like for your usage.
Compare commercial rates by utility in Texas.
See Texas rates →Compare commercial rates by utility in Ohio.
See Ohio rates →Compare commercial rates by utility in Pennsylvania.
See Pennsylvania rates →Compare commercial rates by utility in Massachusetts.
See Massachusetts rates →Compare commercial rates by utility in New Jersey.
See New Jersey rates →Compare commercial rates by utility in Washington DC.
See Washington DC rates →Every supplier below had active plans in our live rate inventory as of July 2026 — we profile only suppliers we can verify in the markets we cover.
TX — Vistra brand
View business profile →OH · PA · TX
View business profile →TX — Just Energy Group brand
View business profile →TX
View business profile →TX — NRG Energy brand
View business profile →DC · MA · NJ · OH · PA
View business profile →MA · NJ · OH · PA · TX
View business profile →MA · NJ · OH · PA · TX — NRG Energy brand
View business profile →TX
View business profile →TX
View business profile →TX
View business profile →TX — NextEra Energy brand
View business profile →TX — NRG Energy brand
View business profile →TX — Just Energy Group brand
View business profile →DC · NJ · PA — Via Renewables brand
View business profile →TX
View business profile →TX — NRG Energy brand
View business profile →TX
View business profile →OH · PA
View business profile →NJ · PA — Via Renewables brand
View business profile →TX — Vistra brand
View business profile →TX — Just Energy Group brand
View business profile →DC · NJ · PA — Via Renewables brand
View business profile →DC · OH · PA — AltaGas brand
View business profile →