Commercial energy procurement takes about 90 days from the first conversation to electricity or natural gas flowing under a new supply contract. The analysis and bidding take five to seven weeks. The rest is the utility processing the switch, which happens on a meter-read cycle and cannot be hurried by anyone. That is the number to plan around, and the reason a contract that expires in six weeks is already late.

Below is the sequence Inertia Resources runs for a commercial or industrial account in a deregulated market, worked as a real calendar. The example starts today, Tuesday, October 6, 2026, for a contract that ends Monday, January 4, 2027. Dates move with your own start, but the spacing between them does not.

The timeline

Day 0, October 6: the first call

Thirty minutes. We confirm which accounts sit in markets with retail choice (a facility on a municipal utility has no supply contract to shop, and we say so), roughly what the load is, and when each contract ends. Nothing is signed.

Days 1 to 10, October 7 to 16: authorization and data

You sign a Letter of Authorization, which lets us request interval data and supplier quotes on your behalf and cannot bind you to anything. You send one recent bill per account. We pull twelve months of interval data from the utility; this usually takes three to seven business days to arrive. If you have multiple sites, this is where every account number and meter gets reconciled, which is the step most often underestimated.

Days 11 to 21, October 17 to 27: load analysis and structure

With the data in hand we split each bill into the supply portion (shoppable) and delivery (regulated, not shoppable), build the load shape, and check the current contract for pass-through clauses and bandwidth terms. Then the structural decision: fixed, index or block-and-index, and the term. For a buyer who needs budget certainty that is usually a fixed component; for a buyer with a view on the market it may be layered. This is also the point where natural gas is planned alongside power rather than on a separate calendar.

Days 22 to 35, October 28 to November 10: same-day supplier bidding

We issue identical terms, load data and contract requirements to 20+ licensed suppliers and take bids on a single day. Sequential quotes let suppliers hide; simultaneous bids on identical terms produce a sharp price because every supplier knows the competition is real and happening now. Bids are typically valid for the day they are issued, which is why the structure decision has to be made before this step, not during it.

Days 36 to 50, November 11 to 25: normalization, negotiation, signature

Every offer is unbundled to a true all-in price: capacity and transmission treatment, swing or bandwidth tolerance, materially-adverse-change clauses, early-termination terms, renewal mechanics. The headline rate is rarely the cheapest offer once those are priced in. We negotiate the terms that control your risk, you choose, and you sign directly with the winning supplier. The supplier pays our fee; you do not. Our guide to the clauses that matter covers what we are reading for.

Days 51 to 90, November 26 to January 4: enrollment and the switch

The supplier submits the enrollment to the utility. The switch takes effect on the next available meter-read date after the utility processes it, which in most territories is one to two billing cycles out. For a January 4 expiry, enrollment submitted in late November lands the new supply on the December or January read, with no gap. Nothing physical changes: the utility still delivers and still bills delivery. The supply line on the bill shows the new supplier and rate.

Where the schedule slips

• Interval data. Some utilities return it in two days, some in two weeks. Starting the LOA on day 1 rather than day 10 is the single largest controllable gain.
• Multi-site reconciliation. A portfolio with dozens of accounts, several utilities and mismatched end dates can add two to three weeks to days 1 to 21. The fix is to start earlier, not to skip the reconciliation.
• Decision latency. Bids are good for a day. A buyer who needs a week to get internal sign-off after seeing prices will be re-bidding into a different market. Agree the approval path before day 22.
• Enrollment windows. Utilities have cut-off dates for each read cycle. Missing one by a day moves the switch a full month.

Why 90 days is a floor, not a target

Ninety days is the shortest comfortable runway. It is not the best time to start. Forward prices for a delivery month are tradable long before that month arrives, and the buyers who consistently do well lock when the curve is favorable, which may be eight or ten months before expiry, not when the calendar forces them. Our note on when to lock in energy rates covers the timing question; the point here is that the 90 days above is the mechanics, and market timing is a separate, earlier decision.

Under 45 days the risk changes character. The account can roll onto the supplier's holdover rate, which is priced at a premium to market and is the most expensive outcome in commercial energy buying. Our renewal management service exists to make sure that never happens: we track every end date and start the clock at the right time without being asked.