Energy Procurement Services

Analyze: Advanced data analytics reveals exactly how energy is being used and where; trustworthy data must underpin any attempt to control energy use and costs and avoids unintended consequences. For example, equipment is often shut down or powered down between shifts to save energy; but startup surges and productivity losses may counteract any savings in energy use. Aging equipment is often kept onboard to avoid capital expenditures; but it uses more energy requires more downtown, so the savings may be eaten up by higher energy costs and lower productivity. You need to know which facilities, processes, and systems in your company need and consume energy, how much, and why.

Negotiate: Once reliable, consistent data is in hand, you are in a stronger negotiating position with energy suppliers—and with energy users within your company. Monitoring and evaluating energy use requires technologies, skills, and incentives for compliance. If you lack any of the three, your energy consumption will be less than optimum and your consumption may far exceed each user’s actual needs.

Monitor: A mature procurement department will monitor suppliers to make sure you are getting what you pay for; keep track of market fundamentals; and reduce risk through such strategies as optionality and supplier scorecards. You may be able to regenerate power and sell it back to utilities; invest in monitoring technologies that optimize power consumption and minimize carbon emissions; and predict future needs and opportunities for savings by modeling past performance.