When a business owner finds out their state's electricity market is deregulated, they usually ask one of two questions: "Which supplier should I call?" or "Should I use a broker?" The answer affects how much time you spend, what rate you end up with, and whether you're truly getting the best deal available.
Here's an honest breakdown of both options — including when going direct makes sense (it rarely does) and what a good broker actually does for your business.
Going direct means contacting an energy supplier — a company like Constellation, Nexus, Spark, NRG, or Direct Energy — and asking them to quote your business directly. You speak with their sales team, provide your usage data, and receive a quote.
This sounds simple. The problem is what you don't see.
Each supplier only offers their own products. When Constellation quotes you, they give you their best rate — not the market's best rate. They have no incentive to tell you that another supplier is offering a better deal. You would have to contact 30+ suppliers individually, provide the same usage information to each, wait for quotes to come back in different formats, and then manually compare them — accounting for different contract terms, riders, and pricing structures.
Most businesses that go direct end up contacting two or three suppliers, picking the best of those, and believing they got a good deal. They rarely did.
An independent energy broker acts as your procurement agent. They work for you — not for any single supplier. Their job is to:
A good broker completes steps 1–4 within 24 hours. The entire process from bill submission to signed contract typically takes 3–5 business days.
This is the most common question — and rightfully so. If a broker is free to you, someone must be paying them. Here's how it works:
When a supplier wins your contract, they pay the broker a small residual fee — typically fractions of a cent per kWh, built into the supplier's margin. This is a standard industry practice, similar to how insurance brokers or mortgage brokers are compensated.
Critically, this does not mean you pay more. Suppliers price their bids to win in a competitive process. The broker fee is absorbed into the supplier's normal operating cost — it does not get added on top of the rate you're quoted. In fact, because brokers bring suppliers large volumes of commercial customers, suppliers often offer their most competitive pricing specifically for broker-submitted accounts.
Transparency check: A reputable broker will always disclose how they're compensated if asked. At Energy Deregulator, we explain our compensation structure upfront. If a broker refuses to explain how they're paid, that's a red flag.
There are a small number of scenarios where going direct might be appropriate:
For the vast majority of commercial and industrial businesses — manufacturers, restaurants, retailers, warehouses, healthcare, office buildings — using a qualified independent broker will consistently produce better outcomes than going direct.
Not all brokers are equal. Here's what separates a qualified independent broker from a less scrupulous one:
Using a qualified independent energy broker is, in almost every case, the fastest way to get the most competitive rate — at zero cost to your business. The only thing you lose by using a broker is the time you would have spent doing the same thing yourself, less effectively.
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