Utilities are one of the biggest expenses for small businesses and can significantly impact their operational budget. Many businesses struggle to track and minimize utility costs because they don’t have an energy management plan in place. Without a plan in place, businesses cannot meet sustainable energy initiatives, properly budget for upcoming energy expenses, or comply with energy benchmarking laws which can result in hefty fines.
Our energy management software gives energy brokers and businesses an easy path to implement and engage in a comprehensive energy management strategy. With an energy management strategy in place, businesses can reduce their energy spending by 20% or more. Energy brokers can utilize UtilityModule and EnergyAuctions to help their customers implement a sustainable energy management plan and take their businesses to new heights with our energy software.
Step 1: Competitive Energy Purchasing
Using our energy management platform, brokers can set up a branded, online, reverse auction in EnergyAuctions that offers businesses competitive energy purchasing. EnergyAuctions allow customers to view reverse auctions in real time and work with their broker to compare energy suppliers. During the auctions, brokers can accept, reject, or even reschedule electric and natural gas bids on behalf of their customers, based on real time results.
The advantages of this energy management solution include increased transparency and auditability. Furthermore, customers are afforded greater bargaining power in competing and comparing energy suppliers to obtain the best price and service.
Step 2: Track Utility Data
The number one reason that businesses fail to meet energy sustainability initiatives and reduce their energy spending is that they don’t have an energy tool in place to track energy data. Provide your customers with an all-inclusive energy tool that not only tracks utility data but provides actionable utility information.
UtilityModule is a progressive utility management platform that provides a multitude of functions that enable greater customer control by strategically managing energy consumption and costs.
Using UtilityModule, customers can track and manage their energy needs with proprietary algorithms that factor in customers’ weather normalized load shape, their projected utility costs, projected supplier costs, trend consumption models, energy market trading and other variables. Other capabilities include:
- Managing monthly and year-end accruals
- Auditing and storing utility and supplier invoices
- Recommending additional energy solutions and products
Step 3: Create Budgets
No one enjoys creating their annual utility budgets, especially since expenses can vary dramatically from year to year. Fortunately, UtilityModule offers businesses access to both utility and local supplier bills that provide holistic energy budgeting capabilities. Using its proprietary software analysis, UtilityModule can analyze energy budgets for all utility types to provide actionable solutions for businesses of all sizes.
UtilityModule provides businesses the most accurate and technically advanced tool to transform the budgeting process into a point and click experience for their portfolios. Equipped with this information, businesses can make more informed energy procurement decisions and accurately budget for the unexpected.
Step 4: Energy Efficiency
Finally, UtilityModule is integrated with the EPA’s Portfolio Manager. This designation allows our system to update Portfolio Manager with new energy data as we collect it monthly. With this in hand, UtilityModule can provide valuable insights into national benchmarks of average energy consumption by property types and other markers.
