"We're looking at achieving 10 to 20 percent off Peco's 2011 rates," Stiner said.
Stiner said the Philadelphia-area program has already signed up about 250 customers and is holding its first auction next week to obtain prices from power suppliers.
"We thought this was a good opportunity, and we took it right away," said Jim Flood, manager of Oteri's Italian Bakery in Olney, one of the program's early adopters.
Philly Buying Power is the latest opportunity in the dizzying array of choices that electric customers will face as market rates take hold.
Scores of power suppliers are jockeying for Peco's 1.6 million customers, some focusing on large commercial and industrial customers. The battle for residential markets is expected to pick up in November.
But city officials say that few suppliers are fashioning deals for small commercial operations such as restaurants, dry cleaners and corner grocers.
The Commerce Department endorsed Philly Buying Power after issuing a request for proposals. The city is not involved in the transaction between electric customers and the power broker, but is encouraging small businesses to consider the choice as a way to reduce operating costs.
"We're not creating any kind of additional layer," said Jon Edelstein, the city's director of sustainable development. "We're not adding a cost to the taxpayers. We're providing a service."
Like all brokers, Taylor collects a fraction of a cent on each kilowatt hour sold to its clients, which is included in the price it quotes.
The market restructuring was put in motion by the state's Electric Choice Act, whose aim was to stimulate competition to drive down energy costs.
