We are all constant consumers. We start our morning by buying our daily coffee, maybe grabbing a newspaper and a breakfast sandwich. We buy food for dinner and clothes for the family. And of course, we also have to make those big purchases on occasion; the refrigerator, dishwasher or the new car. With all the buying we do on a continual basis, you’d think we’d all be experts. Of course, running a home requires buying energy there, as does running the business. Buying food or office supplies is easy. Buying energy is much more complicated.
Energy purchasing is something most businesses didn’t have to think about until recently when deregulation came into play. Deregulation gives businesses the ability to choose their energy supplier. Many companies just don’t take the time to investigate all options available to them. They’re happy with the status quo. “We’ve always used that company. They’re fine,” is a phrase we could easily hear some GMs say.
One reason for the reluctance to shift suppliers could be the fear of entering unfamiliar territory. Buying coffee is easy. Buying a car is exciting. But what do we know about buying energy? What are my choices? Where do I find them? How do I compare pricing? To the average office manager or GM, these questions can be daunting. Albireo is a leading energy management firm that provides an outsourced energy management service, which provides the best rates and tools to ensure the most competitive purchasing.
Albireo relies on more than 10 years of energy buying experience to make this process easy for you. If a company purchases energy as an individual company, it will get individual rates. Albireo can put your business into an energy buying aggregation where suppliers compete for a bulk energy load to get you the best price.
Consider this case study for Dunkin’ Donuts®:
In 2011, a collection of Dunkin’ franchisees throughout New Jersey and New York decided to buy energy in a group format, just as they purchase other commodities. Albireo presented our group aggregation model, which is based on deep market expertise, state-of-the-art technology, optimal timing, and competitive supplier bidding.
Over a six-year period, Albireo has expanded within the Dunkin’ network to a dozen deregulated states and thousands of stores for the procurement of electric and natural gas. Each region operates with little franchisee involvement, other than final decision making, and Albireo does the heavy lifting.
The net benefit has been a 15-20% reduction in energy spend from what that individual franchisee would have procured on their own versus the group’s performance. That has resulted in millions of dollars saved for the members.
Participants have also enjoyed the benefits of annual budgeting, savings analyses, contract and invoice tracking, as well as benchmarking store-by-store for energy performance Standards.
“Dunkin’ Donuts® franchisees participating in group energy purchasing through Albireo have seen considerable cumulative savings,” said Scott Murphy, Senior Vice President, Dunkin’ Donuts® Operations U.S. & Canada. “Energy costs are a large expense for quick service restaurants, so the ability to control and reduce these costs while making a positive impact on the environment provides a tremendous value to our franchisees”.
As in the example above, it is not uncommon to see a reduction in your energy spending by 20% or more. No single business could ever come close to getting the same price Albireo procures when buying energy for your business as part of an aggregation. But cost savings and budget certainty are not the only benefits. When you join with Albireo, you are getting a partner to help with budgeting, benchmarking, aggregations, energy auctions, bill payment and more. And if you want to go green and see if solar energy is a good fit for you, Albireo will do the leg work. It’s all part of how Albireo provides a full service to our clients.
Let’s take a look at some of those benefits:
- Budgeting: Creating an energy budget is a frustrating and ineffective exercise for most managers. Albireo’s proprietary algorithms will unlock the secrets.
- Aggregations: Combine your energy load with similar customers to create purchasing power. Albireo has created the largest buying pools in several markets. You can join one and unlock competitive pricing.
- Benchmarking: Major cities now require commercial properties to report utility usage and costs through Portfolio Manager. Albireo’s systems will save you time, effort and money by ensuring automation and compliance.
- EnergyAuctions: When suppliers compete, your business wins. In each market, for each energy buying group, and whether large or small, there are suppliers ready to aggressively bid for your business.
- Bill Payment: How much time do you spend opening mail, checking details, processing invoices and writing checks? Let Albireo show you the most effective and economical way to process your utility bills.
So how does all this work? What’s the first step in the process? Well, it goes like this:
- An Albireo representative meets with you to learn about your business and transfers your energy monitoring, tracking and purchasing to Albireo.
- Analysts at Albireo examine your historical energy consumption and spending.
- Based on local market conditions and your operation’s specific needs and usage patterns, Albireo selects the optimal energy supply contract for your business.
- Albireo gives you password-protected access to its UtilityModule portal, an online tool that lets you track your energy usage, spending, and prepare customized planning budgets.
- Your Albireo representative schedules regular consultations with you to review and optimize your energy use.
- At the same time, Albireo monitors your local energy market and searches for future purchasing opportunities.
Working with Albireo to manager your energy far outweighs the alternative of doing it yourself. Albireo’s experience, competitive processes, and state-of-the-art technology make the choice an easy one.
