Top 3 Natural Gas Buying Mistakes
Most businesses believe that buying natural gas is like purchasing dirt and they simply shop price. The strategies for lowering your price can depend on the terms you negotiate, proper analysis of your book of business, the right timing and how you shop your accounts.
I recently had a client that had entered into a gas agreement in 2017 and thought that their price was competitive. For their specific campus profile (as it turned out), there was a much better approach that would have yielded them 32% annual savings. That was a simple single site situation and we were fortunately able to remedy their situation. However, the scenarios vary greatly based on each customer's site profile, the weather, timing and level of consumption...too much to discuss in this article. So what are the Top 3 mistakes made?
# 1 Not understanding how certain wording in the agreement can affect your current and future pricing
# 2 A lack of understanding of how to compare pricing from the plethora of suppliers that use varied methods to represent their rate calculations
# 3 Not utilizing a broker that employs technology for delivering added value in the form of consumption reports integrated with weather normalization. These reports and assisted oversight can ultimately save your organization more money than the broker services might deliver...Largely ignored is Point #3
The moral of the story is that you get what you pay for as they say. Doing it yourself could cost you some change and then some. An agent/consultant representation will not add to your cost. Choosing one with sound reporting technology that features weather intelligence is a significant advantage.
My name is Alex Tomas and I have been in the business of consulting on utility expenditures and consumption for over 29 years. Our firm utilizes proprietary technology with predictive weather intelligence for guiding you into the future and guarding your monthly use. Feel free to call us at 678.701.8279 or email me at alex@tomasandassociates.com to schedule an appointment and demonstration of our technical capabilities.
Chart illustration source provided through WTRG http://www.wtrg.com/daily/gasprice.html