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By now, everyone from shop floor worker to CEO intuitively understands that saving energy delivers dollars to the bottom line. But cost avoidance only begins to showcase the benefits of modern energy efficiency technologies. Non-economic benefits of energy efficiency often accompany financial savings.
High Connecticut electric rates put financial pressure on local businesses, and it can be frustrating to see that most other states have lower energy costs. However, businesses do not have to take a back seat to what happens to Connecticut electric rates. By getting involved with legislators, advancing sustainable energy and practicing strong energy management, organizations can help make the state’s energy picture more attractive.
While implementing technology changes such as using energy analytics software (EAS), building automation systems, energy-efficient equipment or any combination of these certainly helps to save energy, a company’s employees and customers play a large role in how energy is consumed. So, by making energy savings part of your corporate culture, you can maximize the results, because people, processes and technology will be unified toward achieving this goal.
Even if sales growth is strong, it doesn’t necessarily translate into profitability growth. For many businesses, unexpected and difficult to forecast expenses, like utility costs can cause profits to sink.
Businesses can significantly cut costs without hurting the revenue side of their income statements by utilizing energy services to cut down on waste and excess costs. Whether they adopt measures on their own, incorporate technology, or work with an energy services or consulting firm to implement changes, organizations can improve profitability through the following energy services:
Too many companies overlook how dynamic energy is and therefore miss out on potential cost savings and the competitive advantages that come from strong energy management. To see how to start thinking more about using energy more efficiently, follow these tips:
With Connecticut facing a projected budget deficit of $3.6 billion over the 2018 and 2019 fiscal years, the state needs to make adjustments to close the gap. As such, Governor Dannel Malloy has proposed a budget for those two years to eliminate the deficit, primarily through spending cuts.
All C&I properties face a quandary: energy costs constitute a significant recurring expense (~10% of total operating expenses), but are they enough to justify the investment in energy efficiency systems and remediation? Will the ROI be great enough and quick enough to make up the initial capital outlay? The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) notes, “An important goal of efficiency policies and programs is to help minimize these upfront project costs so owners are encouraged to invest in energy efficiency improvements and significant retrofits.” Well, there are programs from both government and utilities that will help ameliorate both upfront and ongoing costs, making investing in energy efficiency a winning prospect.
Everyone knows that energy prices in New England are quite high relative to other regions of the country. That is particularly true in Connecticut, where Artis Energy is based. Even though New England’s wholesale energy markets produce competitive prices that reflect suppliers’ costs, per ISO New England, the fact remains that fuel costs – most particularly natural gas which sets the price for wholesale electricity in our region — as well as the need for new power resources and improved transmission, remain key energy cost drivers. Both electricity and natural gas prices have seen dramatic swings in recent years (e.g., in 2012, natural gas prices hit a 10-year low; in the winter of 2015, the region saw some of its highest wholesale electricity prices since 2003), driven in large measure by an inadequate natural gas delivery infrastructure.
But there are other, less visible costs that can – and do — contribute mightily to higher bills for a range of accounts. These include capacity and demand charges. Let’s take a closer look.
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