Case Studies

Identify the locations where we can procure their supply immediately and then start with the largest exposure. Begin RFP process with analyzing historical usage patterns, then identify the product that meets the institutional needs and risk tolerance of client, then monitor current, historical, and expected market conditions to maximize buying opportunities.

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Hartford Finishing: Energy Procurement
Scope: 1 locations (multiple meters)
Services: Electricity Procurement, Account/Market Monitoring
Date of Procurement: January 12, 2021
Budget: $950,000
  • Auction Facts
  • Testimonial

Transparent Energy, the national leader in online energy procurement, today announced it completed a successful set of online reverse auctions for Hartford Finishing, Inc., one of the largest industrial powder coaters in the Midwest, to power its 300,000 square-feet of manufacturing facilities in Hartford, Wisconsin. The online auctions attracted four natural gas suppliers, resulting in the sale of ~121,500 Dth of natural gas over the term.

Held on December 3, 2020, the online auctions compared Primary Firm Basis and Secondary Firm Basis products over 12-, 24-, 36-month terms, enabling Hartford Finishing to clearly price the market and select the right product and term for its business needs. The competitive process, run on the Transparent Energy online auction platform, attracted four accredited suppliers to bid on the manufacturer’s load, and the most hotly contested tranche – for a Secondary Basis 12-month term – led to an astounding 108 bids over 54 minutes, ultimately displacing the incumbent supplier.

“I’m a big believer in online auctions for energy procurement and have successfully used them throughout my career,” said Ken Daiss, CFO of Steel Craft Corp, the parent Company of Hartford Finishing. “Even so, I was still surprised by the level of competition the Transparent Energy auctions spurred in what is perceived to be an illiquid market. The Wisconsin natural gas market is serviced by a handful of suppliers, and the typical paper-based RFP process would typically yield just a handful of bids.
“Transparent Energy blew that expectation out of the water, and helped my team and me obtain real-time pricing, fiercely competed, across an array of natural gas products and terms. With that pricing in hand, we were able to select the best product and term to meet our business needs and risk tolerance. Industrial natural gas buyers in Wisconsin, and really business buyers of energy everywhere, would be smart to make online auctions in the skilled hands of Transparent Energy a strategic part of their energy buying process.”

Added Paul Shagawat, Managing Partner and Co-Founder of Transparent Energy, “This natural gas procurement for Hartford Finishing highlights so many facets of our online-auction process. First, in what is essentially an illiquid market, our auction increased the number of participating suppliers and stoked ferocious competition for our client’s business, driving down the winning price. Also, by engaging with us more than a year in advance of its natural gas contract expiration, Hartford Finishing enabled us to pounce on a soft spot in the market and lock in a great rate. Finally, by testing a variety of product types and terms, Harford Finishing used the auctions to gain a breadth and depth of price discovery unavailable by any other means, which enabled it to execute its commodity price and risk mitigation strategy.

“We appreciate Hartford Finishing thinking outside the box to bring a live auction into what many would consider a market with very little competition. But they did, and that made all the difference.”