Estimated Meter Reads
Utilities indicate on their bill whether a meter reading is actual or estimated. Readings can be estimated if the interval meter installed had difficulty transmitting the usage to the host utility, or if the meter was not read on a scheduled basis.
If you notice multiple estimated meter reads, this can be cause for concern as typically a proxy charge will be billed, then trued up when the meter data is available. These proxy charges can be more or less than the actual charges and can lead to budgeting issues down the road.
Bottom line, if there are too many estimated meter reads, this issue should be addressed and corrected ASAP.
3rd Party Supply Charges
Would you like to pay less for your power supply? Businesses frequently hear this question as they are contacted by 3rd party power brokers looking to sell energy at a rate other than provided by the host utility. Unfortunately, power brokers don’t have the best reputation in the energy industry as many brokers are looking to make a quick sale, receive their commissions, and move on to the next customer without regard to each customer’s best interest.
Depending on the customer’s energy usage characteristics and their risk tolerance, there are several ways of structuring power supply agreements to tailor a customer’s needs. Below is a high-level overview of some of the more common 3rd party supply solutions:
- Fixed Price Contracts – Customers are provided a fixed “all-in” price for the agreed upon contract term.
- Matrix pricing: Matrix pricing is typically provided to smaller customers with lower kW demand peaks. Power suppliers group these customers into segments based on their assigned distribution rate and provide a flat rate to all like facilities. This is like the method used by utility companies when bidding for the lowest standard offer rates.
- Custom pricing: Custom pricing is provided by power suppliers who analyze facility specific historical energy consumption (aka interval meter data) to determine which power supply rate to offer to the customer. Depending on how consistently a facility consumes power (how high the load factor is) along with when the facility consumes power (on-peak vs. off-peak consumption) custom pricing may be more advantageous for a facility.
- Variable Rate Contracts – Customers are provided a monthly variable rate for their energy supply based on market conditions at the time. Historically, when the term ended on a customer’s third party supply agreement, they would be automatically assigned a monthly variable rate contract which often was significantly costlier than their agreed upon rate. Recently however, certain states have created legislation to help protect customers against costly, and in some cases, punitive, monthly variable rate contracts: http://www.hartfordbusiness.com/article/20151001/NEWS01/151009997/regulators-approve-variable-power-rate-ban
- Indexed Rate Contracts – Indexed rate contracts are more complex than other forms of 3rd party power supply agreements. Typically, they involve both a fixed and variable (indexed) portion which combine into a monthly rate. The fixed portion covers costs such as line losses, winter reliability charges, and other various base charges. The variable portion is indexed to a market, which in many cases is either the day-ahead LMP (Locational Marginal Pricing), or a specific fuel source such as the monthly (NYMEX) natural gas price. Indexed rate contracts are usually more beneficial to larger power consumers that are willing to take more risk to have more control over their monthly energy costs.
For a quick overview of power supply rates currently available to Connecticut consumers view the following link: http://www.energizect.com/compare-energy-suppliers.
For more detail, or for custom pricing solutions, contact a reputable and trustworthy energy broker www.artisenergy.com