Since the dawn of electricity deregulation, most commercial and industrial clients have relied on brokers and sales reps as their primary source of education and strategy development. Clients meet with a different set of sales people to discuss procurement, engineering, demand-side management, sustainability, and resiliency, leading to a fractured decision-making process and piecemeal strategies that lack depth, diversity, harmony, and foresight. When energy prices are falling, the weather is following normal patterns, and suppliers are offering low bids in a race to the bottom, any sales rep or broker running a simple procurement process can appear to be adding value to your business.
But what happens when your energy strategy never contemplated resiliency and rolling power outages quickly erode the bottom line while possibly damaging equipment and creating dangerous conditions? What happens when an overly simplistic energy strategy leads to contractual penalties or revenue limitations after adding an onsite generator or solar array behind the meter? What if the ROI on your energy efficiency project is based on poor assumptions, faulty logic or does not account for the unique attributes and tariffs in each market? What if the generator you recently installed does not meet the necessary standards to participate in economic demand response programs?
For too long, clients have been approaching procurement, engineering, sustainability, and resiliency as separate decisions from one another when, in fact, a synchronous approach is necessary to minimize the undue risks and maximize the opportunities and benefits that come with deregulation. It is time to pivot away from the siloed decision-making of the past and start implementing customized, comprehensive, Whole Health Energy Plans.
This holistic approach to strategic energy management encompasses every part of the energy value chain, from initial construction through procurement and usage optimization to complete grid independence, and everything in between. Each of the individual decisions are made in concert with one another while relying on the overarching strategy and guidance of a robust energy advisory firm, like 5.
Many of our clients are successfully executing on their Whole Health Energy Plan by leaning on 5’s intellectual capital and team-based approach to address the following:
• Construction services and site selection, including design and equipment considerations
• Energy efficiency projects and infrastructure upgrades, HVAC, lighting, and controls
• Client usage analytics, benchmarking, budgeting, tariff and tax auditing, local law reporting, EnergyStar, LEED, WELL Building, ASHRAE audits, and regulatory guidance
• Bill data management, metering, and submetering
• Customized procurement and on-going product management
• Demand response participation at the utility and/or ISO levels
• Power factor correction, coincident peak management, load optimization, load resource programs
• Renewable energy procurement, onsite solar, utility scale solar, renewable retail contracts, RECs, PPAs, VPPAs, carbon offsets, de-carbonization, wind energy, Green Hydrogen, and ESG master planning
• Resiliency plans with a diverse set of options, including distribution generation, microgrids, battery storage, fuel cells, CHP, and more
The details of which programs are best for each client’s Whole Health Energy Plan depends on a complex set of variables. That is why client relationships begin with an in-depth review of operations and usage data along with a series of diagnostic meetings to best understand the client’s needs, risks, and opportunities. The agreed upon plans must be farsighted, while also adjusting over time to fit the evolving needs of the client, the utilization of new technologies, and the ever-changing dynamics of the market.
A well-designed Whole Health Energy Plan reduces costs, improves resiliency, enhances sustainability, and ultimately creates a competitive edge for our clients. Contact our team to discuss options for your Whole Health Energy Plan here.