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8 WAYS TO REDUCE

YOUR ENERGY COST


HIGH-ROI ENERGY-PROCUREMENT
IDEAS FOR LARGE ORGANIZATIONS

By David Vranicar, Verisae


8 WAYS TO REDUCE YOUR ENERGY COST

ABSTRACT
For many large organizations that operate multiple facilities, the
simplest, fastest and least expensive way to reduce the cost of energy
is to refine your energy-procurement practices.

Yet four key challenges may have prevented your organization from
achieving the benefits you otherwise could:

 You may not be aware of all the opportunities.


 The topic can be complex, especially if you work with multiple utilities.
 You need accurate, detailed data. In many organizations, such data
are not readily accessible in useful, actionable form.

Maybe you haven’t yet dedicated the right resources to the task. Or you
haven’t got the right processes or systems in place to a do a proper job.

The ideas you will read here are generally fast, straightforward, non-
disruptive and relatively low in cost to implement.

You will get the most out of this report if you fit the following description:

 You are responsible for reducing the cost of energy in your organization.
 Your organization consumes more than 10,000,000 kWh of energy in
a year.
 Your organization operates in more than a dozen buildings and
possibly on multiple sites.

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8 WAYS TO REDUCE YOUR ENERGY COST

3 WAYS TO THINK ABOUT YOUR ENERGY COSTS


Your energy-related costs fall into one of three categories:

1. The amount you pay your energy suppliers.

2. Your portfolio of energy sources, including utilities, on-site renewable energy,


and purchased Renewable Energy Credits (or RECs).

3. The cost of maintaining the efficiency of equipment that consumes energy.

THE ENERGY SUPPLY SIDE VS. THE DEMAND SIDE

This and subsequent reports in the series address four substantially different but interrelated ways
to reduce total energy cost:

• Pay less for the energy you buy.

• Rebalance your energy sources.

• Use less energy.

• Find a more optimal balance between energy prices you pay and the energy you use.

A separate report addresses ways to reduce the cost of maintaining the efficiency of equipment that
consumes energy.

We refer to the first two ways to reduce energy cost as supply-side methods. The third method is
demand-side. The fourth is a hybrid of the first and third.

This report focuses on ways to pay less for the energy you buy. You will also find here a brief discussion of
the data, systems, processes, and resources you’re likely to need to implement the ideas suggested here.

8 WAYS TO REDUCE YOUR SUPPLY-SIDE ENERGY COSTS


To reduce the cost of energy you buy, consider making some or all of the following changes to your
energy-procurement practices:

1. Consolidate all your utility billing data in a single place where all parties in your organization
can use it easily.

2. Pay the lowest-cost tariffs you can.

3. In deregulated markets, choose the lowest-cost provider for your usage patterns.

4. Avoid overpaying your utility. Find billing errors.

5. Take advantage of rebates, tax breaks and incentives.

6. Don’t let utilities sit on your deposit money.

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8 WAYS TO REDUCE YOUR ENERGY COST

7. When you open or close a facility, make sure your utility adjusts you to the most
THE BEAUTY OF MANAGING favorable rate as soon as possible.
ENERGY WITH SPREADSHEETS
8. Take advantage of other special programs your utilities may offer.
Spreadsheets offer many advantages that
Congratulations if you’re already doing some or all of these things. Our experience
are hard to beat:
with more than 40 companies suggests that you’re in the minority. You look to
• They are inexpensive, extremely flexible
further reduce your energy costs on the demand side, as subsequent Verisae
and almost universally available.
reports suggest.
• They are highly standardized.
Even if you’re already doing many things well, please skim through some of the
• The code for Microsoft Excel is mature,
detailed discussions that follow. They may offer some nuances that can help you
bug free, and exceptionally well
save additional money.
documented.

• Most people in large organizations 1. Consolidate utility billing data in a single place where all parties in your
already know how to use spreadsheets. organization can use it easily.
High-quality, inexpensive training is
Excel spreadsheets are the leading software application used to manage
widely available for those who don’t.
energy data in organizations of all sizes. There are plenty of solid reasons for
• Customized worksheets are easy to
their broad appeal (sidebar, p. 3).
build, even for people with no program-
ming skills. Consultants who can build But they also have their limitations (sidebar, p. 4). To avoid these shortcomings,
spreadsheets are widely available at you must invest a good bit of, well, energy. You must invest enough forethought
reasonable cost. and coordination to use spreadsheets effectively. You may also have to come

• The reporting capabilities of spread- to agreement across business functions with diverse needs. You may have to

sheets are vivid and highly flexible. consider differences across legal or regulatory jurisdictions, state or national
borders, cultures and languages.
• With a little help from your IT group,
you can easily transfer data among To help you navigate these complications, it may be wise to engage your IT
spreadsheets and other common busi- organization or outside consultants. Even with such help, you can still get it
ness software applications. wrong unless you work with someone who has previously built systems to
manage energy. It takes about three times to start getting it right.

If you feel ready to move beyond these limitations, you have several alternatives that can take you
far beyond what you can achieve with spreadsheets.

BEYOND SPREADSHEETS: DIGITAL SCANNING AND IMAGING OF BILLS

One useful next step is to scan and digitize your utility bills so their details are easily accessible online.
This enables you to capture all the data that can help you reduce your bills. It can also make such data
available for convenient use by multiple functions within your organization—including, for example, your
energy-procurement, energy-conservation, facilities, and Accounts Payable groups.

Be aware that making digital images of all your utility bills available online is not the same as making all
your energy-related data searchable or reportable for everyone who needs it.

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8 WAYS TO REDUCE YOUR ENERGY COST

CREATING AN ONLINE DATABASE


THE CHALLENGES OF MANAGING
To make your utility billing data available for thorough reporting and analysis, you
ENERGY WITH SPREADSHEETS
must capture it through keyboard entry or optical character recognition (or OCR).
For all their strengths, spreadsheets also
Your biggest challenges will be to come to consensus on the needs of all the groups
have serious shortcomings. These are espe-
who will use the data, to overcome any internal resource limitations you may face,
cially apparent for large organizations.
and to eliminate data-entry errors.
If you’re trying to collect large amounts of
data from many different sources and con-
IF YOU’D RATHER NOT DO IT YOURSELF
solidate it into a single view, for example,
spreadsheets can have these limitations: One alternative is to outsource the capture, presentation and reporting of data from
your utility bills. In doing so you can choose from a wide variety of utility bill-process-
• They are hard to standardize and con-
ing service providers.
trol across a big organization.

• You are likely to have version-control Many can set up a software application that captures all your data and makes it
issues with your data, your formulas easily (but securely) available to everyone in your organization who needs it. Every-
and your reports. It’s hard to keep one can get all the data they are authorized to see. They can prepare their own
track of what you’re looking at and reports and analysis.
where it originated.
You can capture all the data that appears on your utility bills, and you can see it in a
• Spreadsheets are rarely tested and presentation that’s consistent across all utilities, regardless of their billing formats.
debugged as thoroughly as other soft-
You can enter the data yourself or you can have the service provider do it for you. A
ware applications.
very few service providers (including Verisae) will guarantee 100% data accuracy.
• They are not good at handling very
large data volumes. You can pay your bills yourself or you can have your service provider do it for you.

• It’s easy to introduce errors and hard to In some cases you need only a web browser. You don’t have to buy computer
find them. One or two wrong keystrokes hardware, and you need not involve you IT organization in setting up databases or
can ruin the accuracy of several weeks’ data-transfer interfaces.
work. It can be hard to detect errors.

• You have no audit trail. The numbers 2. In deregulated markets, choose the lowest-cost provider for your energy
spreadsheets generate are hard to verify. usage patterns.
• It can be hard to protect your data [Note: If all your operations are in regulated jurisdictions (sidebar, p. 6), this
security. recommendation won’t save you money. Skip to suggestions 3 through 9.]
• You’re at risk of losing key data if you
Seventeen U.S. states or districts currently enable retail buyers of electricity to reduce
don’t follow rigorous backup procedures.
their cost by choosing their supplier from among two or more competing utilities.
(By contrast, you have no choice of provider if you operate only in regulated states.)

Similar deregulation has also occurred for natural gas, but the opportunities for savings are generally
smaller than for electricity.

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8 WAYS TO REDUCE YOUR ENERGY COST

The best utility for your needs is not always obvious. It may be that no single utility is the best choice for
all your facilities, even within a tight geographic area.

To evaluate the real cost for each utility you’re evaluating, you will need detailed information about all
available tariff schedules from each utility.

The rate structures of competing utilities may be hard to compare side by side because utilities often
structure their rates in different ways. The total tariff always includes several components. In some
deregulated markets, only some of these components may be deregulated. The others remain regulated.
Any items directly related to the charge per kWh are most likely deregulated. Other fees are typically
add-on charges for transmission, billing fees, etc. In comparing rates for two or more utilities, focus on
the deregulated components.

It is also important to understand what add-on fees deregulated suppliers may include in their rates.
For example, some assess penalty fees for “line loss” (often called bandwidth fees). The bandwidth fee
applies when a customer materially changes the amount of energy it uses. Suppliers charge such fees to
protect themselves against possible losses.

Utilities normally buy energy by hedging through forward contracts. If a customer unexpectedly increases its
usage, the supplier may have to acquire additional energy to cover the increased demand. It may pay a higher
price than the cost of the forward contract.

On the other hand, if a customer uses less power than expected, the utility must sell its excess back into
the market, possibly at a loss compared to what it would have charged the customer for the same power.

To make apples-to-apples comparisons of rates, find the base-rate tariff for each utility.

In addition to looking at base rates, also consider any rebates, incentives or credits that each utility may
offer you to invest in improving your energy efficiency. (See more on this in Suggestion 3 below.)

If your operation has flexibility to limit your energy load during periods of peak demand, consider
which utilities offer the best incentives to do so.

To decide which utility or combination of utilities presents the most economical alternative overall,
you will need solid historical usage data for all your operations. The more granular and detailed your
usage data, the more confident you can be in making your decisions. And the more money you are
likely to save.

Depending on the kind of supply contract you may execute with deregulated utilities, it may also be
wise to dedicate a person to watch the market for ongoing opportunities to buy additional energy
“layers” or “blocks” when favorable market conditions arise.

3.  Pay the lowest-cost tariffs you can.

Assuming you know which utility companies you will buy from, the next step is to be sure you select the
lowest-cost tariff rates for which you qualify.

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8 WAYS TO REDUCE YOUR ENERGY COST

This suggestion is usually not as easy or as obvious as it may appear. Utilities generally
WHAT DATA TO CAPTURE FROM provide multiple rate structures and leave it to you to decide which works best for you.
YOUR UTILITY BILLS
Rate structures are complicated. Tariffs are not as straightforward as rates posted
In many organizations the Accounts Pay- in simple pricing tables. They are algorithm for calculating the prices you will pay
able department is responsible for captur- under certain conditions of usage.
ing data from utility bills.
Tariffs often consist of multiple components, starting with a general-service tariff.
Understandably, they often capture only the General-service tariffs vary by the size of the customer. Utilities usually define a
data they need for their own purposes, such customer’s size by the value of its annual peak load.
as the amount paid and the date of payment.
Consider Time-Sensitive Rates
For effective energy management, you
would be much better off capturing the fol- In addition, a growing number of utilities offer prices that vary with the time of day.
lowing data at minimum: Three such price structures are time-of-use rates (or TOU), critical peak pricing (or
• Name of utility CPP) and real-time pricing (or RTP).

• Type of energy purchased Under TOU rate structures, the amount you pay for electricity varies by the time of
• Monthly energy usage and appropriate day, broken into daily peak and off-peak blocks. It is the most prevalent form of time-
units of measure (kWh or therms) based rates, and many utilities now require their larger commercial and industrial
• Billing term dates customers to be on them.

• Base tariff rate paid If you can shed load during peak times (for example, at midday) you can save money
• Rebates or credits applied compared to paying a flat, fixed rate.
• Taxes or other surcharges paid Critical peak pricing is a relatively new variant of time-of-use. The key difference
Electrical utilities may include as many as is that the utility adds a fee for usage during a critical peak period and levies a
275 different data elements on their bill- significantly higher price for only a few days or hours a year.
ing statements. Natural-gas utilities may Real-time pricing exposes customers to hourly price fluctuations, typically based
include as many as 250. on real-time or day-ahead wholesale prices. According to a report by the Lawrence
As a rule, the more of this data you capture, Berkeley National Laboratory, more than 70 utilities in the United States have
the better you’ll be able to manage your costs. offered voluntary RTP tariffs permanently or in pilot programs. One challenge of
RTP is that pricing can be volatile, so you have to be able to adjust your demand
For a more complete discussion of this
level quickly in response to rising prices.
topic, please check out Verisae’s
Utility Bill Processing If you’re a big user of energy and can shift your load from one time of day to another,
consider signing up for a time-sensitive rate.

Despite the complexity of tariffs, they can present big opportunities for cost reduction if you know how
to interpret them and have detailed usage data to determine your best rate structure for each.

Check the Best Rate for Each Facility

If you operate multiple facilities—even if only one or a few utilities serve them all—you may benefit from
getting the most economical tariff rate for each facility.

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8 WAYS TO REDUCE YOUR ENERGY COST

Your evaluation gets much more complex if your organization operates dozens,
ENERGY DEREGULATION BY hundreds or thousands of locations in many states or even across national borders.
JURISDICTION The number and variety of tariff schedules is much greater, and your volume of
Energy deregulation has occurred in these historical usage data must be quite large.
17 U.S. jurisdictions:
If You Operate a Large Number of Facilities
•  Arizona •  New Hampshire
It can be a challenge to collect and compare tariff information from dozens of
•  Connecticut •  New Jersey
utilities even within a single country. Unfortunately, no single database provides easy
•  Delaware •  New York
access to tariffs for all utilities across the United States. The Lawrence Berkeley
•  District of Columbia •  Ohio
National Laboratory has taken the first steps toward offering such a database
•  Illinois •  Oregon
through the Tariff Analysis Project (or TAP). The TAP database presents tariff data
•  Maine •  Pennsylvania
in a consistent manner across utilities, but it is incomplete.
•  Maryland •  Rhode Island
The good news is that the bigger and more complex your operation, the bigger your
•  Massachusetts •  Texas
opportunity for savings.
•  Michigan •  Virginia

If you operate in one or more of these How to Get Your Utility-Rate Analysis Done
deregulated areas, you can probably benefit You have three options for getting this utility rate analysis done:
from competition among energy providers
1. You can do it yourself, using internal resources and spreadsheets or whatever
who want your business.
systems you use now.

2. You can hire a service provider to do it for you each time you need it.

3. You can work with third-party software that enables you to do it whenever you like. With such
systems in place, you can repeat the process any time you think your energy usage patterns or
utility tariffs have changed enough for you to reevaluate your options.

If you spend more than about $2 million a year on energy, you may find it economical to hire full-time or part-
time analysts to check the potential savings for each rate scenario.

If your internal systems are inadequate, if you face headcount constraints or if you think your opportunity
for savings is relatively small, your best option may be to use third-party software that helps you make
your decisions. It will probably cost less than you think.

4.  Avoid overpaying. Find and eliminate billing errors.

Do you have effective ways to identify and manage utility billing errors? If not, you can probably reduce
your total energy spending by 1% to 3% by putting such measures in place.

Utility billing errors are typically of one of two types:

•  The utility charges you a higher rate than you should be paying.

• The utility makes a mistake reading your meter and charges you for more energy than you used.

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8 WAYS TO REDUCE YOUR ENERGY COST

In Verisae’s experience, the first error is much more common. But the more utilities
IF YOU DECIDE TO LOOK OUTSIDE you work with, the more opportunity you will have to uncover errors of both kinds.
FOR HELP
Some organizations use their own resources or third-party services to conduct periodic
Your cost to implement a utility bill-process- audits of their utility bills. Verisae has worked with one company that discovered a $3
ing system usually includes a small fee for million billing error through such an audit.
initial setup and then a low fee for per invoice
Periodic audits can certainly help. But internal auditing groups may not be able to
to scan the invoice, enter and verify the data,
perform audits as often as would be best for catching most errors. Any audit is time-
and make the data available on the Web.
consuming and resource-intensive if you don’t have easy access to utility data. And
The fee you pay per invoice can be lower audits can be expensive if you use outside services to conduct them.
than the price of a cup of gourmet coffee. It’s
probably also lower than your internal cost. Use Systems to Monitor Your Utility Bills
Providers of utility-bill processing services As an alternative to performing audits, you can also set up systems and or services
can implement within two to three months. that will catch such errors as they occur. This approach has these advantages:
During that time you work with your utilities
• It monitors for errors constantly rather than periodically.
to redirect their bills to the service provider’s
post-office box. • You can catch errors earlier so you have better cash flow and can put your
money to better use.
The service provider can either pay the util-
• You can avoid negative effects on quarterly financial statements.
ity bills on your behalf or can set up a web-
services arrangement with your Accounts •  It may cost less than periodic auditing.

Payable department. You can retain control You may find it most cost effective to work with a third-party vendor that can
over the bill-payment process if you like. provide utility-bill processing services for you (sidebar, p. 7).

With an effective system in place your


provider can set up rules to:
5.  Take full advantage of rebates, tax breaks and other incentives.

• hold payment for bills that are more Is your organization overlooking ways to get help in paying for your energy-
than 25% higher than the previous conservation initiatives?
month’s bill
In many cases you can get some or even all the cash you need without applying for
• hold payment for bills that do not loans. You may need to look no further than your energy utility, which might reimburse
match your master list of facilities part or all of your costs.
• contact the utility if the bill does not
Many electrical and gas utilities offer their customers rebates to encourage
arrive when expected.
investment in energy-conservation measures. The payments cover equipment
Such rules can identify anomalies to help such as heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems, lighting, motors,
you avoid billing errors and late fees. occupancy sensors, cooking equipment and more.

Lots of Money Available

How common are such rebates? They are common enough to make it worthwhile to do some research. U.S.
electric and gas utilities collectively offered more than $3 billion dollars to corporations in 2008.

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8 WAYS TO REDUCE YOUR ENERGY COST

Utilities offer these programs because their state regulators require them to do
CHALLENGES IN MANAGING so. Ultimately, it is more economical and better for the environment for utilities to
REBATES motivate you to reduce your energy demand rather than building more production or
Big organizations face special challenges in distribution capacity.
participating in rebate programs: To compensate for the utilities’ investment in helping you reduce your demand,
• Lack of standardization. More than state regulatory agencies pay the utilities a guaranteed rate of return. This return
2,000 utility companies operate in the is in addition to the money utilities can recover beyond the cost of these programs.
United States. The more of these utili- It means you ultimately pay for such rebates and incentive programs through your
ties you work with, the more time and monthly bill, whether you take advantage of them or not.
resources you must invest to under-
stand your options. You must contact You Pay for Rebates Even If You Don’t Use Them
the rebate department in each utility, If you don’t take advantage of these programs, it’s almost like paying multiple
research what equipment qualifies for times—first through your bill, next through your failure to get some of that money
rebates, and obtain the forms you need. back, and third through your failure to save money by reducing your energy use.
• Varied requirements. Some utilities Worse yet, you also pay for the benefits your competitors can get by taking fuller
require you to submit plans in advance. advantage than you do.
Some mandate facility inspections both
In addition to mandating rebates and incentives, most state governments invest
before and after a project. In some
heavily in making money available for Energy Efficiency Resource Standards (or
cases you must submit an application
EERS). EERS provides a market-based way for states to encourage more efficient
before you install equipment. In others
generation, transmission, and use of electricity and natural gas.
you can submit it within six months
after. It can be hard to meet such EERS establish targets for utilities to save energy, They also establish ways for

diverse program requirements. utilities to help their customers achieve and document energy savings. Laws or
regulations that create EERS or EERS-like programs are either in place or are in
• Timing. Rebate programs operate on
place in Texas, Hawaii, Nevada, Connecticut, California, Vermont, Colorado and
different cycles. One utility may run its
Pennsylvania. They are soon to be implemented in Illinois and New Jersey.
program from June through July, while
others from January through December. If you haven’t already taken a close look at EERS in the states where you operate, it
Programs often change from year to may pay well for you to do so now. But be forewarned: EERS involves a fair amount
year, so each new year can bring new of complexity. You’ll need a strategy for how to manage your participate without
incentive amounts and changes to the consuming too much internal resource.
kinds of equipment that qualify.
Consider Possible Tax Incentives

Finally, most states allow tax exemptions for utility costs to organizations engaged in “production and
manufacturing.” If you can show that your facilities do either, the related portion of your utility bill should
be tax exempt. In many states you can recover the exemption up to seven years after the fact. A good
audit of such opportunities can provide an immediate payback that may be quite large.

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8 WAYS TO REDUCE YOUR ENERGY COST

If you have adequate staff resources and the desire to explore your options on your
IF YOU DON’T MANAGE REBATES own, start your research by visiting the websites of your utilities and your state
FOR YOURSELF energy offices.
Multiple service providers enable you to out- If you choose to hire a service provider (sidebar), it’s important to find one that
source some or all of the effort of managing understands utility rebate programs and also understands the mechanical and
utility rebates. They research the kinds of electrical specifications of energy-consuming equipment. Such knowledge and
equipment that qualifies for rebates from experience can help you in two ways. It can guide you toward alternate equipment
each utility. They also know the utilities’ pro- that may help reduce your energy consumption in the future. And it can help you
cesses for obtaining rebate payments. secure larger rebates from your utilities.
Outsourcing of rebate processing has mul-
tiple benefits. Experienced service providers 6.  Don’t let utilities sit on your deposit money.
can offer turnkey services that leverage When you open a new facility or establish a new energy account, most utilities will
their relationships and their years of experi- require you to pay a deposit to ensure they will get their money even if you miss pay-
ence working with utility program managers. ments. These deposits can be in the tens of thousands of dollars. Some utilities will
Service providers often offer incentive-based accept a surety bond or letter of credit in place of a cash deposit.
payment structures whereby you pay them
Rules vary by utility, but most utilities require you keep your deposit on file until
only a percentage of the monies you receive
you’ve established that you consistently pay your bills on time. They may keep
from your utilities.
your deposit for a year or longer.
Such providers can also offer insight and
To get your deposit back as soon as possible (with interest, if your utility will pay it),
initial screening of projects. They can help
track both the amount of deposit you pay each utility and also the utility’s rules for
prioritize your energy-efficiency projects.
getting it back. In Verisae’s experience, it can be a mistake to assume that all
They can also advise you on the opening and
utilities will be proactive in returning your deposit money. You may have to shake
closing dates of rebate program cycles.
the tree to get it.
Many of these companies become deeply
involved with your business. They may work 7. When you open or close locations, be sure your utility adjusts you to the
directly with your equipment vendors to secure most favorable rate as soon as possible.
required specifications and invoice documents.
When you build new facilities, most utilities provide energy at temporary construction
They can also help track down rebate incen-
rates until you open for business. These rates per kWh are usually higher than nor-
tive checks. They have a stake in getting your
mal because the site uses less energy during construction. You don’t benefit from
projects completed so they can be paid.
volume pricing.

In addition, the utility may charge you a fee for getting power to your location. Fees can range from
$10,000 to more than $1,000,000, depending on site requirements, ownership of feeders, primary and
secondary supply needs and other factors.

You can save money by ensuring that the transition from your construction rate to your normal operating
rate occurs quickly. If you have similar facilities operating with the same utility service territory, you can
use the billing history for your established facility to determine the best rate for the new one. If you don’t

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8 WAYS TO REDUCE YOUR ENERGY COST

have such information, you may have to estimate the best rate until you’ve accumulated a full year of
baseline consumption data for the new facility.

If you close, sell, or otherwise transfer responsibility for your operations at a location, take care to
change your relationship with the utility as quickly as possible. Often when you transfer a location to a
“non-operating property,” its energy use will change enough to be billed at different tariff rates.

8.  Take advantage of other special programs your utilities may offer.

In addition to rebate programs, many utilities offer free energy audits and special rate tariffs tailored
to specific needs. Research the website of each utility company or contact your utility account
representative to determine if they offer any services that will help save you money.

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

This report has presented eight suggestions for reducing your energy costs on the supply or
procurement side.

Your ability to implement any of these recommendations requires ready access to good data that
present a clear picture your energy costs and energy-consumption patterns over time.

If you draw only one conclusion from this report, we hope it is this: If you aren’t already capturing all
the data that appears on your utility bills, you will benefit from beginning to do so immediately.

You may capture this data yourself or you may look outside your organization for help. Whichever path
you choose is less important than getting started now.

If you can’t capture your data effectively with internal resources and systems, we’d appreciate the
opportunity to discuss how Verisae can help.

With Verisae you can start as small as you like and go at whatever pace you like. To get started with us
is probably faster and easier than you imagine. It is probably also less resource-intensive, less disruptive
and less expensive.

INFORMATION RESOURCES

For additional information on the Tariff Analysis Project (or TAP) of the Lawrence Berkeley National
Laboratory, visit http://tariffs.lbl.gov/.

For more information on time-sensitive pricing of electricity, see “Time-Based Energy Pricing,” a Verisae
white paper by Rachel Schafer. Request a free copy at contact@verisae.com.

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8 WAYS TO REDUCE YOUR ENERGY COST

ABOUT VERISAE
Verisae helps measure, manage and reduce equipment and energy costs including the related business
and environmental impacts of carbon emissions. The Sustainability Resource Planning (“SRP”) platform
improves operational efficiency, protects brand integrity, and helps ensure regulatory compliance for
distributed enterprises across many industries. Verisae delivers a broad range of sustainability solutions
to over 44 clients globally with more than 63,000 daily users including a network of more than 7,400
third-party suppliers. Verisae’s integrated sustainability platform actively tracks over 2.4 million assets
across more than 21,000 sites worldwide.

VERISAE WORLDWIDE HEADQUARTERS


100 North Sixth Street, Suite 710A MAIN WEB EMAIL
Minneapolis, MN 55403 USA 612 455 2300 www.verisae.com contact@verisae.com

SRP™ and Sustainability Resource Planning™ are trademarks of Verisae Inc. ©2010 Verisae Inc. All rights reserved. Energy-Cost-Savings_Version1.0

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