Many organizations hire energy consultants to help make sense of the energy market and save on energy usage and energy costs. After all, the landscape of energy suppliers and the fluctuations in the energy markets are challenging to navigate. In this article we’ll explore the role of energy consultants as well as some powerful alternatives.

What does an energy consultant do?

Energy consultants are an intermediary between an organization and energy suppliers. Given the complexity of energy procurement, it makes sense that someone experienced with suppliers and energy markets would be a valuable addition to your team.

What are the main benefits of hiring an energy consultant?

 The main benefits of hiring a consultant are 1) to provide support in finding available, appropriate energy suppliers, 2) to identify strategies to control energy costs, and 3) to interpret and suggest actions based on information about customer needs and energy markets.

What are some drawbacks of hiring a consultant?

An energy consultant can have relationships with energy suppliers, and therefore can introduce “supplier bias” into the strategy they propose for your organization without you even knowing it. They control the information and the relationship and typically include their fees in the supplier bill, which is opaque to you. This makes it impossible to tell how much you are paying for energy and how much you are paying for a consultant’s periodic expertise.

You will typically pay an ongoing fee for energy consultants that don’t provide ongoing support to your organization. And, you won’t be able to take advantage of the benefits afforded by advanced data analysis and benchmarking that really good energy management solutions provide, for example.

What’s an alternative that can produce better results?

Energy management solutions are software systems that take the place of an energy broker or energy consultant and provide transparency instead of relying on a middleman.

An example of an energy management solution is The MegaWatt Hour. It is a software solution that helps a business match their broader objectives, such as saving money on energy costs, to concrete outcomes, validating their decisions and updating their strategies along the way.

Customers who choose The Megawatt Hour have experienced 15 – 40% reductions in their energy costs. How can this be achieved? With a combination of the following benefits:

1. Decision support for energy decisions with a clear and transparent view into the energy market

2. Benchmarking and forecasting so you can get a real time idea of where you are now and where your costs will be

3. Access to immediate information about the energy market – every time there is a change in energy data or markets, you get alerts. This is especially necessary now as there is so much volatility in the markets

Instead of relying on an opaque layer between you and the energy markets, get the benefits of true market intelligence and transparency now and going on into the future.