PAETEC to Plug Agents Into Energy Business

PAETEC (PAET) is planning on helping its channel partners get into the energy business, according to CEO Arunas Chesonis, who spoke to PHONE+ at the Channel Partners Conference & Expo this week in Las Vegas.

Chesonis said the company already is selling energy in upstate New York and has about 300 customers, a result of its recent acquisition of an energy broker. It plans to expand to another 15-20 states in the New England and mid-Atlantic areas over the next two years.

PAETEC now has five employees in the energy endeavor. It will be extending its sales force through the channel and Chesonis hopes to have several agents selling it on a trial basis by summer with a planned rollout in the fall.

He said five of PAETEC’s agents already sell energy from other suppliers as part of their portfolios. He said energy and telecom are complementary and increasingly so since CIOs are becoming more involved in the purchasing of energy since data centers are energy hogs.

And, he said there is a lot of opportunity, claiming businesses spend three to four times more on energy than telecom.