Q: How does The Megawatt Hour compare to a consultant?

This is a question that we have fielded from customers a number of times. The fact is that we are not a consultant, although we do provide back office support for procurement consultants. We have customers who are consultants—we work with consultants frequently.

We support consultants who want to back up the advice they provide with arm’s length data and transparent analysis. It means that the decisions that consultants recommend to customers are supported with additional information and cost data, in addition to a consultant’s experience and relationships.

Q: Who will I fire if I make a bad decision? I need to have someone to blame?

This past winter is a great example of how the best advice and feedback are sometimes not enough to forestall an unforeseen market event. Many people blame the Polar Vortex for causing chaos in energy markets.

We have never seen anyone get fired for using the best data and information available to make an informed decision about a complex market like energy. We’ve been in the business a long time. If you do the best you can with the information you have, or that you and and your consultant can get access to, most people don’t get reprimanded for that level of effort.

Q: I don’t want to become a power trader. Isn’t this like speculating and trading?

No, the MWh platform is not a trading platform. You will not be expected to trade or behave like a wholesale power trader in any way. Think of The Megawatt Hour as analogous to a financial services information platform, but for energy.

The Megawatt Hour helps you and your consultant:

• make sense of complex energy markets,
• define your strategy,
• organize your data,
• manage your contracts,
• determine how your current strategy performs compared to other contract options and to the utility default tariff,
• identify buying opportunities for you.

We have plenty of customers who use consultants and advisors, and many who don’t. Our consultant clients love what we do to support their business.

Bottomline for businesses and consultants: Arms length data and information benefits all players in the retail electricity supply chain. Everyone benefits from the availability of real pricing data and information, all of which was formerly locked up in a black box and was never accessible to customers or their advisors.