At UGIES, we pride ourselves on our highly experienced and educated sales force. With team members spread across the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast regions, we have first-hand knowledge of the specific markets and territories where our customers are located. Behind the scenes and often at the center of many deals, you can find our Senior Sales Directors leading the charge. With over 122 years, yes, you read that right, of combined energy industry experience, our Directors know the industry inside and out. So, who better to hear from than the experts themselves? Keep reading as our Senior Sales Directors answer 12 questions.
- What territories and teams do you oversee? What is unique about these regions?
Chris Reiss: “Upstate New York, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Northeastern Pennsylvania, Chain Accounts – Multi Site/State Retail End-users. Weather will always be a big factor in New England. Winter is the riskiest time for a company from an energy cost perspective.”
Chip Powers: “Western Pennsylvania and Ohio. These regions are heavily influenced and sourced with local Appalachian, Utica and Marcellus Shale production, which can mean added opportunities for customers to find cost advantages.”
Allen Scharf: “UGIU, Piedmont, Public Service of NC, WGL, BGE, and COV. UGI is the largest service territory in our footprint, and the most complicated tariff of the 40 utilities we serve.”
Joe Devine: “The East Group consists of natural gas utilities in PA (PGW, PECO), DE (Conectiv, Chesapeake), NJ (PSEG, NJN, ETOWN, SJG), and NYC (Con Ed, Keyspan East and West). The utilities represent 17 different rate classes, so it’s important that our team is familiar with each. We also market to five electric utilities.”
- How many years have you been in the energy business and what is the average years of experience within your group?
Chris Reiss: “I have been in the deregulated energy field since 1989. My team has an average of 10 years of experience in deregulated energy sales.”
Chip Powers: “I have been in the Energy business for 34 years. The average experience within my team is 27 years.”
Allen Scharf: “I have been in the deregulated natural gas business for over 33 years with nine of those years being at UGI. I was instrumental in selling the TXU northeast energy business to Gasmark in 2003.”
Joe Devine: “I have been in the industry for 22 years and my group averages about the same.”
- What types of customers do you serve and how are you able to accommodate their unique needs?
Chris Reiss: “New York, New England and Northeastern PA concentrate on large commercial/industrial end-users who have a sophisticated level of understanding with regard to energy markets in general.”
“The Chain accounts group concentrates on multi-site/state, big box retail and healthcare entities. Both market segments require a nuanced approach to meet their energy needs. Since we sell a commodity, which by nature has the same characteristics from supplier to supplier, my teams must differentiate UGI Energy Services from other suppliers by the services we provide. Specifically the following:
- Layered hedging of commodity and or basis costs in volume increments as low as 10% of monthly contract volume. This provides a dollar cost averaging product that can be tailored to a specific customer’s risk tolerance.
- Burnertip Billing/Contracting. We provide a contract price to the burnertip that will not be subject to change during the life of the contract.
- Fixed/Indexed priced power contracts.
- Detailed market information that allows customers to adjust their risk tolerance and make educated purchasing decisions.”
- How have customers buying habits shifted over the years?
Chris Reiss: “We had been in a relatively low price environment until recently ($2-$4 per DTH). In that environment, customer’s pay very little attention to the energy markets. We have been challenged to keep energy front and center in their window of attention. With COVID-19 shutdowns and the subsequent re-opening of the economy, the energy markets have strengthened considerably over the last 18 months. This has provided Energy Services with an opportunity to leverage the experience level of our sales team to the customer’s benefit. There are relatively few reputable suppliers in our industry and none with the breadth of experience of our field Sales team or Operations group. This has proven to be a great selling tool and an advantage to our customers who, for the most part, have not experienced a volatile, high priced market environment like this.”
- What is your projected fall/winter forecast?
Chris Reiss: “I believe that customers should be at least 90% hedged for both commodity and basis for the term of November 2022 through April 2023 by mid October 2022, at the latest. The European natural gas supply situation is dire and US LNG will likely be required to help offset the increased demand of natural gas supplies due to the situation in Ukraine and Russia. This increased demand for LNG will likely provide a floor to pricing for the Winter of 2022-2023.
- How important is a personal relationship with your customers and why?
Chip Powers: “Personal relationships are key to our business because the more we know our customers; the better we can cater to their evolving needs. Understanding what is important to them is an important part of the work we do.”
- What should energy purchasers know when switching providers?
Chip Powers: “Energy purchasers should be aware of the difference between a supplier and a broker. Brokers are simply collecting a fee to place a customer with a supplier. Suppliers are actually delivering the energy, working in conjunction with customer’s local distribution company and managing the customers invoicing and risk management needs.”
- What kinds of trends are you seeing in the market?
Chip Powers: “Volatility has returned to the energy markets after several years of a low cost, stable environment. This trend makes choosing the right supplier even more important to ensure reliability, communication and risk management strategies.”
- How important is it to understand your customer’s business, as well as the differences from other customers?
Allen Scharf: “It is extremely important to understand the product your customers manufacture and what they use their energy for in order to serve them appropriately.”
- What advice can you give to customers purchasing for larger businesses? Smaller businesses?
Allen Scharf: “All customers should have a basic understanding of the commodity, how it is sourced, and the financial impact of price volatility.”
- How important is it to have an open flow of communication with your customers?
Allen Scharf: “Very, you need to be available and responsive to answer any and all questions and concerns.”
- What can a customer expect from the energy purchasing process as they work with your team?
Joe Devine: “A knowledgeable sales force that can explain and breakdown the energy process both upstream and downstream. It is a good feeling when the so-called "energy experts" call on our sales force to explain to their customers why the markets are moving and how it impacts their bottom-line.”
