American PowerNet 1st to Develop Service to Assist Large Electric Users Access the Wholesale Markets.Energy Editors/Business Editors WYOMISSING, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 20, 2003 American PowerNet, an independent energy management firm, is the first company in the country to develop a suite of services to exclusively assist large industrial electric users gain access to the wholesale electric markets. "One of the biggest ironies of the multi-billion dollar electric market is that the entities that make it a multi-billion dollar market, the companies that actually use the electricity, are really not part of it", stated R. Scott Helm, President of American PowerNet. "We have found that when you introduce an end users credit into the game it has value, particularly in light of what has happened in the energy industry over the last couple of years, and that value ultimately translates into lower costs." American PowerNet initially demonstrated this value by releasing parallel electric bids on behalf of two Fortune 500 companies. One bid went to retail electric suppliers licensed in the state and the other bid went to wholesale generators and marketers within the Regional Transmission Organization  This August 2006 is in need of attention from an expert on the subject.Please help recruit one or [ improve this article] yourself. See the talk page for details. , "RTO (Recovery Time Objective) The amount of time a computer system or application can stop functioning before it is considered intolerable to the enterprise. It can be computed to be from seconds to days, depending on how critical the application is to the organization. ". Both bids requested the same amount of power over the same period of time delivered to the same site. The results clearly demonstrated there is a significant bottleneck A lessening of throughput. It often refers to networks that are overloaded, which is caused by the inability of the hardware and transmission lines to support the traffic. It can also refer to a mismatch inside the computer where slower-speed peripheral buses and devices prevent the CPU between the retail markets and the wholesale markets, as the retail bid resulted in only two suppliers responding with "out-of-the-money" offers while the wholesale bid resulted in eight generators/marketers responding with twenty-eight competitive offers of varying length and structure. In addition to the savings, the results clearly demonstrated that there are significantly more options, liquidity and price transparency Price Transparency The accessibility of information on the order flow for a particular stock, allowing knowledge of the quantities of stock being offered and the bids at the various price levels. Also referred to as "market depth. at the wholesale level. However, the roadblocks to direct access for the large energy users have been significant, such as the complexity involved with scheduling and balancing the electric load every day combined with the numerous cost components and licensing requirements. American PowerNet now assists large electric users to easily overcome all of these hurdles and directly access the wholesale markets by providing all of the expertise and back office capabilities to manage the electric procurement The fancy word for "purchasing." The procurement department within an organization manages all the major purchases. and delivery on a day-to-day basis. "This strategy is particularly advantageous for companies with multiple sites in multiple states." explained Helm. "It allows companies to finally leverage their purchasing power Purchasing Power 1. The value of a currency expressed in terms of the amount of goods or services that one unit of money can buy. Purchasing power is important because, all else being equal, inflation decreases the amount of goods or services you'd be able to purchase. 2. for electric much like they have for all of their other supplies. Going directly to the wholesale markets is the next logical step for large electric users exposed to market prices in deregulated states, however, while significant savings and benefits can be obtained, the markets are relatively complicated which has discouraged more direct participation up to this point." American PowerNet currently provides wholesale procurement services behind PJM PJM Pacific Journal of Mathematics PJM Project Manager PJM Puerto Jimenez, Costa Rica (Airport code) PJM Pennsylvania New Jersey Maryland Interconnection LLC (Mid-Atlantic region power pool) , and soon in the New England New England, name applied to the region comprising six states of the NE United States—Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. The region is thought to have been so named by Capt. ISO (1) See ISO speed. (2) (International Organization for Standardization, Geneva, Switzerland, www.iso.ch) An organization that sets international standards, founded in 1946. The U.S. member body is ANSI. , NY ISO, ERCOT ERCOT Electric Reliability Council Of Texas, Inc. and MISO territories. About American PowerNet American PowerNet provides clients with supply-side management services designed to provide direct cost savings on energy purchased, and demand-side management strategies that reduce or shift energy use for overall lower energy bills. As a leader in the electricity procurement markets, American PowerNet currently procures energy for thousands of accounts nationwide. For more information, call 610/372-8500 or visit online, www.americanpowernet.com. |
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