According to statistics, there is an estimated 350,000 unique churches in theUnited States today, across varying religions. Running and operating one of these churches can be a difficult undertaking for any religious organization.

Running the actual church building can be challenging and costly, particularly when it comes to paying for utilities and other expenses.

For churches, the goal with managing overhead is often simple: keep costs as low as possible to help allocate funds to the community, the public and the greater good. With this in mind, churches that practice all different types of religions often struggle to find affordable ways just to ?keep the lights on.?

While many churches do what they can to try and conserve energy, for those that live in certain deregulated states across the country, there is more they can do to keep energy costs low. They can shop for different electricity plans in an effort to find the lowest rate possible for their service.

There are now numerous states across the country that have adopted some type of electricity deregulation. For churches that reside in these areas, it means there are ample opportunities to lower the cost of their monthly utility bills in a way that can benefit their entire parish.

For those in charge of the churches finances, one of the key ways to get the most savings possible is to use one of the available search companies that allows users to browse rates from all of the different electricity providers in a service area. Deregulation has brought countless retail electricity providers to many areas throughout the country, meaning there are virtually hundreds of different individual plans available for customers.

These platforms allow consumers to shop around for different individual plans available by the independent retailers that service these areas. Plans can range in length, type of rate (fixed or variable) and of course by the cost of kWh.

While most churches will undoubtedly attempt to find the most affordable plans possible when shopping for their new electricity plans, there are others that may wish to look for green energy plans. There are some parishes that see using renewable energy as an act of compassion as many feel some energy practices are endangering the globe and the environment.

In an effort to find electricity that uses renewable resources and does not put pollutants into the air, churches can specifically search for green energy plans from local retail suppliers. Many individual suppliers specialize in offering area customers with energy from wind, sun or hydro power, providing their consumers with an opportunity to not only save on energy costs but to be more environmentally conscious as they do so.

In states around the country such as Texas, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and Ohio, electricity deregulation is a way of life. Churches that reside in these areas now only have the power to choose where their electricity comes from but they have the power to cut their churches costs and benefit their entire parish.