It’s Your Money

When I first meet people
They always ask…

So… what do you do…

I respond…
We save companies money…

That normally gets a positive response…

People like to save money…

Now….
Do you have time for a quickie quiz…

How many of you have signed a contract…
Thought you got a good deal
Possibly a great deal and…
Never looked at the paperwork again

Can I see a show of hands…

You…

Yea…. you over there
Is your hand up or are you scratching your head…

It looks like you wanted to put your hand up

Come on…
Let’s be honest
We all have done it…

I believe that all of us have good intentions…

But let’s face it we just get busy

No matter how you planned your day
Something happens and you are once again
Putting out fires

The first thing we do with any potential client
Is validate what they are currently paying

Are you paying the exact rate you signed for…

Believe it or not…
This is not always the case

I have people tell me….
Yea… we signed a contract and I was told
We are paying well below market prices

That is always great to hear
But let’s see if that is their reality…

Do you mind if I see your contract…
And could we also get a copy of your latest bill…

I can’t tell you how many times
We find that people are being charged
The wrong rate
And most of the time it is for more than
What you signed for

We always direct them to call the provider
And clarify…
Why are we paying this higher rate…
Our contract states we should be paying xxxx amount

Guess what the response normally is…

Oh, we’re sorry
That was billed improperly
Let us correct that…

We can give you a credit
Or send you a refund

How nice of them….

If they were under charging you
I bet they would contact you and say
We have a problem

However, if they are over charging you
You don’t hear from them

This is your money…

Don’t be afraid to ask for it…

HBS clients have received thousands of dollars in refunds

Always be aware of what you are paying…

And if you are not sure…
Give us a call

HBS leaves no stone unturned in our search for savings

We find ways to save you money

Gas It Up

The past 3 months

Natural gas prices have been on the rise

After establishing a new floor

With the Nymex dropping under $2.00 a dekatherm

It started an accent

And is now heading towards $3.00

That would be a 50% increase

What caused this sudden rise….

Some say…..

Supply / Demand

Others say greed

With the market choking on gas

And gas prices being low

They started shutting down wells

That can certainly drive prices up

Now throw the weather into the mix

Did we have a spring…

Maybe we will have a hot summer

The market is in flux

Should the long range forecast see a hot summer

Prices will continue to rise

If cooler temperatures prevail

You will start seeing prices back off

Should that be the case…

We will see a window of opportunity

For gas and electric prices will drop and

Become even more competitive

In the energy business

Timing is everything

We’ll keep you posted

Where’s the Floor

Natural gas is a commodity

That is traded on the nymex

When people say…

Natural gas is up 5 cents

Or

Natural gas is down 5 cents

They are talking about

The price of natural gas

Out of the ground

Which is traded

On the nymex…

If you flash back

5 to 6 years ago

You will probably remember

Natural gas prices were

Thru the roof

Trading around

$13 – $15 a dekatherm

Slowly

Over time

The market began to drop

It hit the floor

In May 2012

When the nymex

Hit $2 a decathem

(Nobody knows where the floor is

Until you pass it)

Since May 2012

We have been on a roller coaster

The nymex climbed up

To over $5.50

In Feb 2014

Then….

It began a slow descent

As of today

The nymex is

Trading at $2.59 a dekatherm

The point I am trying to make is….

The nymex is once again

Hovering

Just above the floor

It hit in May 2012

This is good news for

Those buying

Natural Gas and Electric

In the deregulated market

With the winter winding down

And with a glut of gas

In reserves

Prices are very competitive

This is a great time

To save

$$$$Money$$$$

Will gas go below the $2 a dekatherm

I wish I had a crystal ball

In a market

Where timing is everything…..

Now is a good time to be

Locking in future savings

Natural Gas Prices Drop

It looks like the natural gas market

Has shaken off the fears

Of having a cold winter

Once again this year

After beating the drums

For 11 months

Driving up market prices

Now

That winter is here

The market sees no fear

And has been in free fall

Not to say

That things could change

Remember we are dealing

With the fickle energy market

We have heard many times

Timing is everything

Well you can’t say

I didn’t tell you

If you are currently

With the local provider

Or

You are floating with a 3rd party provider

Now’s the time to lock in on savings

Market prices are well below

What you would be paying

For those businesses

Who use gas

To heat their buildings

Statistics show

You use about 60% to 70%

Of your annual natural gas usage

Between the months

November and March

To heat your building

One cold snap

Can push prices thru the roof

It is smart to protect yourselves

During these high usage months

By locking into a competitive

Fixed rate contract

Give us a call

Or shoot us an email

We are here

To help you save money

Natural Gas Soars On Fears of a Polar Redux

As reported in Wall Street Journal

By
Tim Puko

A repeat of last year’s snowy, Arctic-cold winter is looking a little more likely today. Natural gas traders, still scarred by the memory, are bunkering in.

Buyers have been rushing into the gas market for a week on fears of a sequel to last winter’s Polar Vortex, which walloped the eastern half of the U.S. with brutally cold temperatures from the deep south up to New England. Many spent months dismissing that possibility as simple panic, but now meteorologists are getting more pessimistic.

Both Commodity Weather Group and WeatherBELL Analytics LLC released long-term forecasts this week showing a notably higher risk for a cold December. That was supposed to be relatively mild month this winter, balancing out a cold January and February. Now the whole winter is shaping up to be “pretty nasty,” WeatherBELL said.

That has propelled natural gas to a six-session rally. It’s rebounded nearly 18% since it hit its 2014 low last week. Gains of nearly 3% Tuesday are pushing it near a three-month high.

And traders are all wondering if the winter of 2015 will bring a repeat of 2014.

“I think it’s a reasonable risk,” said Matt Rogers president and meteorologist at Commodity Weather Group in Bethesda, Md. An early season burst of cold starting next week is already “really spooking a lot of people.”

More than half of all U.S. homes use natural gas as their heating fuel, making the natural gas market especially vulnerable to weather. Tepid demand had capped the market for four months and had bankers and investors fearing a glut by the spring. The new forecasts have flipped that script, at least temporarily.

Timothy J. Collins, director at Fairfield Advisors LLC in Madison, N.J., has had to get out of spread bets that depended on falling prices in January, he said. He is now trying to buy into positions that would benefit from rising prices that month, but he still thinks that record production will help balance out the fear of a Polar Vortex repeat, he said.

“I think people are overly sensitive to it,” said Mr. Collins, whose fund manages $35 million. “You know how they say the military is always trying to fight the last war? Well, we keep trading the last position.”

The rally could produce bargains for stock investors, said Jonathan Waghorn, co-portfolio manager at Guinness Atkinson Asset Management Inc. in London. Its $84-million fund holds Chesapeake Energy Corp., QEP Resources Inc. and Ultra Petroleum Corp, among other oil and gas producers that could benefit from rising gas prices balancing out free-falling oil prices.

“Gas is strong, yet the energy equities names are all getting hit,” Mr. Waghorn said. “If you believe the gas story, today’s giving you a good opportunity to pick up some energy names getting smashed by weak oil.”

Natural-Gas Prices Set Another Eight-Month Low on Soft Demand

As reported in Wall Street Journal

By
Timothy Puko

July 28, 2014 3:09 p.m. ET

NEW YORK—Natural-gas prices set a new eight-month low for the fourth time in six sessions, breaking an early-day run Monday as traders stayed focused on low prospects for demand.

Prices for the front-month August contract settled down 3.4 cents, or 0.9%, to $3.747 a million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange. August options expired Monday and the contract expires Tuesday. The more actively traded September contract settled down 2.2 cents, or 0.6%, to $3.765/mmBtu.

The day largely focused on technical trading as buyers and sellers kept moving against the momentum of the market, analysts said. After prices quickly hit an intraday high of $3.85/mmBtu, traders began to sell, likely focused on how cool weather is likely to limit demand in the weeks to come, said Aaron Calder, senior market analyst at energy-consulting firm Gelber & Associates in Houston.

The unseasonably cool summer has allowed consumers to use less air conditioning and the gas-fired electricity that fuels it. Producers put a record string of surpluses into storage, and gas prices have fallen about 20% since mid-June.

“If the weather stays mild and we don’t have any power demand, as it has been, then I don’t think we’ve hit a bottom,” Mr. Calder said.

Forecasts still show mild weather, including temperatures as much as eight degrees Fahrenheit below normal, lingering over the center of the country into the second week of August. Weather forecasts made only small changes over the weekend, with division over whether temperatures would be slightly warmer or cooler than previously expected.

The New Normal

Since May of 2012

When the natural gas

Nymex (gas out of the ground)

Hit the floor at just under $2.04 a dth

We have seen the nymex

More than double!!!!!

Today the nymex is at $4.16 a dth

All this talk about……

Overflowing gas supplies

Storage levels being at a

5 year high

Has not dampened the market

I have had many conversations

With people in the energy industry

There is an….

Across the board agreement

That there is little substantiation

For this increase in pricing

Will prices go back down?

Hard to say…..

I do not see it dropping

To where prices were last May

Is having over a $4.00 nymex

The new normal

Stay tuned

For more insight contact george@hbsadvantage.com or call 856-857-1230

Visit us on the web http://www.hutchinsonbusinesssolutions.com

Sticker Shock

Just when everything

Seems to be going along

Quite well

There always seems to be something

That snaps at you…

That brings you back to reality

In this case

I am speaking

About electric supply prices

Over the past year

Electric prices have been at…

Their lowest level

In the past 4 to 5 years

There were times I would have to

Double check with our providers

To verify the prices were correct

That is how low they were

Then came January 2013….

PSEG is doing an upgrade of their

Network Integration Transmission System

To the grid

This has proved to be very costly

And the Federal Energy Regulation Commission

Has agreed to allow this cost

To be a pass thru cost

To anyone buying electric in PSEG territory

It is known as the NITS

And

This has added anywhere from

3 to 5 mils onto the supply cost

3 mils ( 3/10ths of a penny) or

5 mils ( a ½ a penny)

Doesn’t sound like much

But multiply it by your annual Kwh

Add it adds up very quickly

On top of this…

As the demand for electricity increases

The companies generating the electricity

Are asked to generate enough electricity

To ensure there is enough electricity

In reserve…

To maintain

Reliability on the power grid

The generating companies said

No problem

But it is going to cost you more

As a result…

To maintain the capacity needed

For reliability

The capacity payments jumped 65%

From the prior year

This cost also

Has been tacked onto

The electric supply cost

We have seen this add an additional

5 mils….

Even up to a penny

To the supply cost

These additional costs

Effects all commercial and industrial users

Whether they buy electric from the local providers

PSEG or AC Electric

Or

They are buying electric from a

3rd Party deregulated provider

The deregulated electric market

Is still offering a better opportunity

For savings

Over the Local provider supply cost

But there is sticker shock

We find the clients saying….

Yeah……

But our cost has been……

For the last year or two

I guess it was too good to be true

Don’t let the events described scare you

We keep using more electricity

Thus the demand for electricity increases

There are still real opportunities

For savings

It is just that the bar has risen for everyone

We are finding the best savings opportunities

In the longer term electric renewals

This softens the 65% capacity increase

For capacity cost return

To their prior level of cost

As of Jun 2014

To learn more….

Feel free to contact us

Annual Electric Auction Helps Determine Rates for NJ Utilities

Low prices for natural gas used to fuel power plants may help keep down rates.

By Tom Johnson, January 31, 2013 in Energy & Environment as reported in NJ Spotlight

For the past four years, consumers and many businesses in New Jersey have enjoyed a rare occurrence — a drop in the price of the electricity delivered to their homes from power plants around the region.

Might the trend continue? More will be known by the end of next week when the state Board of Public Utilities holds its annual online auction to purchase most of the electricity needed to power millions of New Jersey homes and businesses.

The results of the annual auction play a big role in determining whether electricity prices fall or rise each June in a state saddled with some of the highest energy costs in the nation.

But in the increasingly complex energy market, the auction is not the only factor: Transmission prices continue to rise and the state has increased the amount of electricity that power suppliers are required to buy from solar-energy systems, which costs more than electricity produced from more conventional power sources. Those and other factors can wipe out any savings achieved in the auction.

The auction typically involves the expenditure of more than $7 billion in ratepayer funds, although that amount may drop given the number of customers who have switched in the last year.

For the most part, state officials and industry executives were reluctant to predict the outcome of this year’s auction, but the general consensus was there should not be a drastic change in consumer prices, given the continued relatively low cost of natural gas.

‘’I don’t think there will be any major swings,’’ said Jay Kooper, the New Jersey chairman of the Retail Energy Suppliers Association, a group representing power suppliers who try to offer customers cheaper electricity than that supplied by the state’s four electric utilities.

With the steep drop in natural-gas prices, Kooper’s members have been much more successful in luring customers away from the state’s utilities, which buy the power they need to supply their customers in bulk in the annual auction held by the BPU. The cost of generating that electricity generally amounts to about two-thirds of a customer’s bill, with most of the rest of the cost tied to the expense of delivering the power over a utility’s transmission and distribution lines.

Natural-gas prices are still historically low, but they have bumped up a bit since last year, according to Tancred Lidderdale, a senior analyst at the Energy Information Administration, an arm of the U.S. Energy Department.

“Natural gas prices are still low, but they are not as low as last year,’’ Lidderdale said, noting that the price of the fuel, which is largely used to power generating stations in the region, was about $2.40 last January in one sector; prices were running at about $3.29 in future contracts in the same sector this month.

The price differential should not have a big impact on the New Jersey auction because of the way state regulators have structured it. Last year, prices for electricity purchased from the power suppliers fell from 1.1 percent to as much as 6.4 percent, depending upon the utility supplying the electricity.

Critics, however, said the price drops could have been steeper if the state’s utilities were not locked into the present system of buying electricity. Under that system, the utilities buy one-third of the power they need for customers each February. By doing so, they avoid the possibility of their customers be hit with huge price spikes when natural-gas costs rise rapidly, as happened during Hurricane Katrina.

The downside is that when natural-gas prices fall, customers do not gain the savings very quickly from their utilities, which has prompted more and more customers to shop around for cheaper energy rates. By the end of December, about 15 percent of more than 3 million residential customers had switched electricity suppliers, way up from the 5 percent who had switched in February.

New Jersey Division of Rate Counsel Director Stefanie Brand, who has argued for changes in the current auction structure, said the lower natural-gas prices may offset other factors driving up costs for consumers.

“Hopefully, it will be good news for consumers,’’ Brand said in a telephone interview. “I would love to see prices go down, but I can’t say I know what’s going to happen.’’

Hal Bozarth, director of the Chemistry Industry Council of New Jersey and a frequent critic of the state’s energy policies, said he would expect prices to go down, given the low natural-gas prices. “I’d be sadly disappointed to see prices go higher,’’ he said. “The rates are so high they are a disincentive for economic development.’’

In New Jersey, energy costs for the industrial sector usually rate as sixth- or seventh-highest in the country, about 60 percent higher than the national average, according to Bozarth.

Kooper, who said the state’s system of buying power needs some structural changes, remained hopeful. “I think there will be opportunities to shop for electricity,’’ he said.

The Rumbling Started………

Back in September

Right after Labor Day

Future forecast show

We are in for……

A cold winter

Thus began the long trudge….

Natural gas prices

Started inching up

In October

The drumbeats started

Beating louder

Forecasts are calling

For a cold winter

Natural gas prices

Inched up

A bit higher

All this was happening

As Natural gas storage levels

Remain at….

An all-time high

Future supplies are poised

To make the US

The world’s largest

Natural gas supplier

New finds and

Refined extraction methods show

We have over 100 years

Of natural gas reserves

November starts….

The drums keep beating

Forecast show that it is

Going to be

A cold winter

Prices inch up a bit higher

All the while

We have been experiencing

Higher than normal temperatures

Here it is January 2013

We have had some cold weather

But no long term stretches

Of cold weather

They are already forecasting

That beginning next week…..

A warm front will be coming in

And hanging for a couple of weeks

All this has created a

Natural gas market

Phenomena

The index

(The base cost of natural gas

To all providers)

Started to drop

So much for the higher prices

HBS has been working with our clients

Keeping them apprised of the opportunity

For the savings this presents

The basis (transportation cost)

Is inverted

That means the longer you go out

The less expensive it is

We have never seen this

In the 12 years we have been

Servicing the deregulated market

By locking in a

3 to 4 year

Basis position

Clients have been able

To add more certainty

To their future

Natural gas cost

This will allow the client to

Concentrate on managing the cost

Of the Nymex

ie: (gas out of the ground)

During the highest usage months

November thru March

For most clients

That is when 75% of their

Annual natural gas usage

Is consumed

Feel free to contact us…..

To learn more about

How you are able

To save in the deregulated

Natural Gas and Electric markets

Start the New Year off with Savings

That will always bring a

Smile to your face….

Hutchinson Business Solutions

Smart Solutions for Smart Business

For more insight contact george@hbsadvantage.com

Visit us on the web http://www.hutchinsonbusinesssolutions.com