Coming Up: A Radically Changed Energy Perspective for Shopping Centers

Abstract

How will shopping centers interact with their current and future
utility suppliers?
Not well.
Sorry, but that is the answer, at least initially. Energy suppliers and
retail stores are two very different industries, speaking different lan-
guages and rooted in diametrically opposed histories.
Retail is based on an open market competitive environment, while
energy has always enjoyed a monopolistic, noncompetitive environment.
Increasingly, shopping center owners are being exposed to utility
people who have foreign concepts and risk-averse attitudes. Retailers
don’t speak the same language. Some retailers do not trust energy
people.
This must be overcome. Believe it or not, time is an issue and retail-
ers are better off with a hasty decision now rather than a well considered
decision one year from now.
The pressure does and has resulted in a somewhat strained rela-
tionship between the consumer and the provider, but it can be overcome.
The first step retailers must take is to identify their energy goals.
First, know your place in the market. Assume your competitors are
realizing benefits from deregulation. Are you positioned so this advan-
tage does not threaten you? If yes, you may just consider status quo,
leave things as they are and continue down the road with your existing
energy provider.