Technologies Management, Inc. (TMI) recently participated in the first Energy Marketing Conference (EMC) on February 27, 2014, in New York at the Affinia Hotel. The board member companies for the Energy Marketing Conferences, LLC include: Energy Choice Matters, TrustedTPV, Concentric Energy Advisors, Advanced Energy Capital, Customized Energy Solutions, and Northbridge Energy Partners. The event was well attended and we were very pleased to be able to attend the informative conference sessions (a rarity for exhibitors at events like this due to the overlapping scheduling of exhibits hours and conference sessions).
This conference was designed by the EMC board of directors to provide companies in the competitive energy industry with affordable, educational events bringing together hundreds of energy, utility, marketing, vendors, and suppliers in a venue conducive to the exchange of ideas and business solutions. “Besides networking, education is a key part of the Energy Marketing Conference,” said Paul Ring, founder of RetailEnergyJobs.com and an Energy Marketing Conference board member.
The focus of this conference was business development and growth for retail energy companies. Topics ranged from building a business to finding and managing investment capital, and from marketing channel best practices to operations. Regulatory developments and what any other states may (or may not) allow energy competition could affect the landscape and how many competitors will be left to offer consumers a choice in 2015.
We found that the impact of this winter’s severe weather on energy prices and customer churn were key concerns of attendees. In some regions, customers saw bills increase from $300 to over $800 or even $1000 in one month’s billing cycle. A number of State Commissions are considering implementing energy price caps and fixed pricing to address the large numbers of consumer complaints recorded during the extremely long, cold winter storm season. If price caps become the norm, how do retail energy companies position themselves in a market where price advantages are removed from the list of competitive options? Most agreed that through superior customer services and bundled service packages they could continue to offer consumers a multitude of choices in energy service provider selection.
Included as part of this conference, were the first EMC Awards, presented to recognize innovative marketing ideas and successful business strategies in retail energy. NRG Residential Solutions received the EMC Award for “The Most Innovative Energy Supplier of the Year.” Crius Energy received the EMC Award for the “The Energy Supplier of the Year.”
All-in-all this conference was a great experience for Technologies Management, Inc. and an opportunity to explore how we can continue to assist these companies through our regulatory support and reporting services. Thanks to Paul Ring of RetailEnergyJobs.com and Larry Leiken of TrustedTPV for their hard work in developing this curriculum. We hope to participate again.
