The introduction of the energy service company in the 80s has-been nothing short of a wild surge to the top as it pertains to demand. The beginning of the energy solutions company can be attributed to the energy crisis of the late 1970s, as business people developed methods to counteract the increase in energy rates. An ESCO is a company that provides extensive energy solutions for its clients, like auditing, redesigning and applying adjustments to the ways the customer consumes energy, the primary end goal being improved efficiency.
It has become crystal clear that the new norm post coronavirus is driving firms to assess their business models and readjust consequently. Achievements in technologies have contributed to the industry’s evolution as a whole.
Energy services companies are fundamentally distinct from consulting engineers and equipment contractors: the former are generally paid for their recommendations, whereas the latter are paid for the products. Throughout the 1990’s we got a rise of private energy service companies due largely to deregulation and the rising price of energy. At the present time we are witness to almost certainly the largest deregulating governments the U.S.A. has ever experienced which is only getting better with recent statements from the Trump Administration made in Texas this past week.
In 2006 the trade group NAESCO said energy service providers grew by 22% and stated $2.6 billion in revenues marking an important moment for ESCOs throughout the United States. In Canada the popularity of energy services companies also expanded significantly primarily in the oil abundant province of Alberta.
There is certainly a number of varieties of the types of providers supplied by energy service companies. Some may include sustainable energy, commissioning and start-up, ecological site assessments, fuel flare vent and much more. Nevertheless why bore (no pun intended) you with the particulars of them all.
One of the more popular energy service is the one of energy management. Energy management consultants are progressively more prevalent as energy prices climb. For energy managers or consultants as they are also called, the main focus is definitely to save their customer in the energy expense department. Creating a base line before starting on any energy cost savings effort is a crucial factor to any energy management firm. This produces a routine of active energy consumption which sets out to identify reference points so the energy management consultant can display any future cost savings. The rewards of working directly with top company administrators is that when a determination must be made its made immediately. For this reason energy consultants work alongside and report to, business officers. The importance of the working relationship among the energy consultant and the organizations management can not be understated given throughout any energy review it’s vital to have management conveniently available.
Energy solutions providers encompass a wide array of different service and products. As to be expected across much of the world, coronavirus has forced the industry to rediscover itself and therefore we are now seeing many organizations adapt to this “new normal”.
Chief Operating Officer of Sunstar Energy service Arnold Leckington had this to say on The Energy Report, a Canadian energy news site.
ESCOs many times use performance contracting, signifying that if the endeavor doesn’t provide ROI, the energy services company is responsible to pay the difference, therefore assuring their clients of the energy and cost cost savings.
“What the future holds post coronavirus is anyones guess however we’ll endure like always by adjusting to what everybody is calling the new norm.”
One factor energy providers have to contend with is government ordinances and keep up-to-date with the ever changing rules and guidelines they have to comply with. They are experienced in streamlining and simplifying the whole project to ensure optimal proficiency and energy cost savings.
Ahead of COVID19 we’d already started to see utility organizations start to reinvent themselves and make themselves more pertinent by grouping solutions you may not of previous thought they could offer. Services like internet providers now offering bundles with TV and home phone on top of the internet service. That is already the case in much of Canada and the USA now. Basically as this happens, energy providers transform into energy service firms offering a specific range of services versus concentrating on simply providing it. Proof in point is Sheridan from Harvest and how he views the market change.
“We were lucky in the business of mobile boiler rentals, we actually saw a massive increase in demand but then again our regular high season runs through the winter months.”
You’re likely wondering that if this really is developing then wouldn’t that make independent energy service companies obsolete? If there’s any takeaway from reading this is that energy services companies are going to be with us for the foreseeable future and adapting to anything that the world brings its way.