Budgeting &
Benchmarking
BUDGETING
Energy budgets are often prepared by repeating last year’s budget or escalating the prior year’s expenses by a fixed percentage. Both methods fail to account for the actual price and terms of a client’s current energy contract, which should be used to prepare a more accurate budget. Straight-line budgets with similar expenses projected for each month of the year also fall short and do not account for the natural swings that occur due to weather variability and operational changes. To make energy budgeting matters even more difficult, there is a wide variety of product options with different components that are billed on a fixed or variable basis. It is no surprise that clients struggle to accurately budget their annual energy expenses given the complexity of these variables.
5’s budgeting process begins with a review of the client’s historical usage data and any current or future-start energy agreements. Depending on the details of the client’s product selection and contractual terms, 5’s analysts create an appropriate budget that also accounts for seasonality. The client is also able to access specific usage and forward market pricing information through Level5, the industry’s leading energy market intelligence platform.
BENCHMARKING
Most clients do not realize the value of energy benchmarking until they see their own data in action. Benchmarking allows clients to review their energy usage by meter, by day, and sometimes by the hour, to understand the general pattern of their entire portfolio while also spotting outliers in the data. Benchmarking is especially helpful for clients with many similar locations, those looking to build new locations and considering the most efficient layouts, and clients interested in energy efficiency investments without clear direction on where to focus those investments.
5’s benchmarking analysis and visualizations come to life in the firm’s proprietary system, Level5. Clients often remark that they have never seen or thought about their own energy usage so clearly until experiencing 5’s usage and benchmarking review process. As a result of the insights gained through benchmarking, clients can make energy decisions with confidence and clarity.
Contact Us to learn how 5 can help your business with energy budgeting and benchmarking as part of a customized Whole Health Energy Plan.
“It is always exciting to watch a client’s reactions as their own energy usage data comes to life on our Level5 system. When we share our benchmarking analysis and 3D surface charts of their annual usage, clients routinely say that they have never seen anything like it before. Our data visualizations are only outdone by the knowledge and passion of our team.”
- Steve Kass, Vice President, 5
