Commercial energy procurement
Retail Energy Procurement Guide
Retail energy use is shaped by store hours, HVAC, lighting, refrigeration, customer traffic, merchandising equipment, and landlord/tenant responsibilities. Multi-site retailers also need disciplined account data before portfolio pricing is meaningful.
Typical energy profile
Daytime and evening load often follows store hours, with HVAC and lighting as major contributors.
Grocery, convenience, and specialty formats can add refrigeration, food service, or equipment loads that change the profile substantially.
Chains may operate across multiple utilities, states, lease structures, and contract expiration dates.
What changes the buying decision
Procurement considerations
Store format
A grocery store, apparel location, pharmacy, and big-box retailer can have materially different energy drivers. Procurement should segment sites where load shape differs.
HVAC and lighting
Operating hours and weather sensitivity often shape the core electricity profile. Remodels, lighting retrofits, and HVAC upgrades can change future consumption.
Lease responsibility
Confirm whether energy accounts are directly controlled by the retailer or embedded in landlord charges before including a site in procurement.
Portfolio data quality
Utility, account number, service class, usage, and contract end date should be standardized across locations before a multi-site pricing request.
Openings and closures
Store openings, closures, relocations, and format changes can create load uncertainty. Procurement assumptions should reflect the planned portfolio, not only historical accounts.
Risk strategy
Retailers may prioritize predictable operating expense, centralized administration, or market participation differently. Product structure should match that business objective.
Before requesting pricing
Questions to answer first
- Which store formats have materially different refrigeration or equipment loads?
- Which locations are tenant-controlled versus landlord-controlled for energy?
- Are openings, closures, remodels, or relocations planned?
- Should procurement be centralized across the portfolio or segmented by utility/market/load profile?