Despite many years in the energy industry, this author is continually stunned by the number of end-users and energy professionals who do not understand their utility rate structures or their implications for savings potential. Unfortunately, the status quo is for an energy services firm to identify energy waste, install a solution, and then incorrectly calculate "savings" based on weighted average unit costs, in $/kWh.
Read MoreWhat better way to celebrate Canada Day 2014 than by taking a close look at one of Canada's most impressive energy infrastructure projects. This post focuses on the Sir Adam Beck Generation Station at Niagara Falls.
Read MoreWhile there are many horrific and ghoulish stories that we could write about in the energy sector, we recently came across a textbook version of a nightmare that plagues many a utility rate department: the zombie tariff. Zombie tariffs are rates that just won't die despite the best efforts of the utility to kill them.
Read MoreWe've found that many people struggle to understand how Power Factor (PF) impacts demand charges. Frequently, end-use customers pay a significant premium each month in demand charges because their PF is below a threshold set by the utility in the rate tariff. Oftentimes it’s not obvious to the untrained eye when there are extra charges associated with a bad PF on the customer bill. In this blog post, we are going to walk through PF and hopefully make it more understandable to the average commercial and industrial consumer.
Read MoreIf you are one of the fortunate people in MA served by a natural gas utility, you probably saved a bundle this winter compared with your neighbors who burn oil, propane, or the truly unfortunate who heat with electric baseboard heaters. If you are like most people, you get your bill, it sits in a pile for a week or two, and then you pay it without scrutinizing it. If you pay online, you almost certainly don't read your bill. You may not realize it, but if you heat with natural gas you are participating in a deregulated marketplace.
Read MoreThis blog post is shorter than most, but it addresses a problem for many in the energy industry. There are no correct maps anywhere on the internet that indicate which states/provinces are open for deregulated energy supply.
Read MoreIn this post, we are going to focus on ISO-NE capacity charges. Most Regional Transmission Organizations (RTOs) have some type of capacity market, the exceptions being Alberta and Texas, who rely on what's called an energy-only market structure. In deregulated electricity markets, there are two main products: electricity; and capacity.
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