Washington, D.C., churches and other faith-based organizations have formed a collective to take advantage of volume discount energy rates made possible by electricity deregulation.

In a recent Washington Post column, Rev. Thomas Knoll of First Trinity Lutheran, one of the involved institutions, wrote that by directly bargaining with competitive, independent energy providers for the best deal, the 11 organizations that banded together last year have saved between a few thousand dollars and $33,000 on their bills.

This year, according to Knoll, the collective has expanded to 33 institutions. The churches hope to include discounts on residential electricity rates for parishioners as part of a 2012 package.

Knoll pointed out that cost-cutting on energy prices allows these institutions, many of which have to power and heat huge spaces, to invest more in community service. Furthermore, the green energy options provided by private power companies enable more organizations to be true to their mission of being environmental stewards.

The average price per kilowatt-hour for electricity in the Washington, D.C., area was $0.133 in June 2011, which was close to the national average and down from $0.144 per kilowatt-hour in June 2010, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.