Collecting and Analyzing Your Energy Information: Should You Outsource? Or Handle In-house?

Abstract

Deregul at ion of the electric ut ilit y ind us try is cha ngi ng the wa y
co mpa nies bu y a nd use energy.
In yes terday's wo rld, yo ur costs of electrici ty were based on how
m uch yo u used, w hen yo u used it, and wh at yo ur local ut ility d ecid ed to
c harge yo u . To morrow, success wi ll be yo urs if yo u ha ve a sy stem in
place for tracking an d managin g yo ur facilities' e nergy cons umptio n to
allow you to ge t the best d eal from a com pe titive utility bu sin ess.
Wha t can yo u do now to p repare for the futur e? Plen ty, as it tu rn s
ou t.
You can star t tod ay- even if d eregulat ion has not hit you r ar ea-by
researching your options an d reso urces. Your goa l is to be able to in ter -
pret and organiz e you r ene rgy use, so you can keep on top of billing
err ors, negotia te con trac ts that serve yo ur co mpa ny, a nd focus e nergy
con serva tion efforts. Even before deregulation , yo u' ll save money .
According to an article In Supermarket News, reta ilers alone are ex-
pe cted to save approxi ma tely $14 mill ion to $20 m illion in o pera ting
cos ts in electricity dereg ula tion if d on e rig h t. Ian Taylor, energy m an ager
for ]. Sainsb ury, a Lond on-b ased retai ler, says that gea ring up for de -
regulation a nd energy utility plan n ing sho uld be a top p riority for m an-
age men t.