National accounts plan to use fewer suppliers.

NORTH SALEM, N.Y.--Energy managers of large national multisite operations plan to significantly reduce the number of energy suppliers they use when full retail choice for electricity becomes available, according to a recent survey.

The fourth annual survey of energy managers of national chains by RKS Research and Consulting, a research and polling firm based here, found that the number of energy suppliers for multisite end users could drop by as much as 80 percent in a restructured marketplace. Energy managers interviewed said the current average of 60.5 providers per chain could fall as low as 11.6 providers, with restaurants expecting the largest reductions.

Sponsored by about 40 utilities, the survey included 267 decision makers responsible for 173,000 locations across the nation. The end users were chosen from a list of 17,500 national accounts provided by the utilities, …