Archives: Case Study Posts

Several states have adopted policies that allow consumers to shop for their electricity supplier. J.Pollock partners with the energy user to hire and fire a REP as necessary to obtain the best price and lowest cost for electricity. However, you may also have a choice even in regulated states. J.Pollock recently advised a client in the Southeast that had chosen read more…

A legislative coalition wanted to encourage a Southeastern state to remove barriers to expanding biomass and waste heat (renewable) generation. J.Pollock was retained to prepare a report to the state legislature explaining how current regulatory policies were forcing electricity consumers to pay a premium for new utility resources when they could pay much less for reliable renewable generation. However, regulatory read more…

A client asked J.Pollock to determine whether it should consider expanding its on-site generation to offset rate increases due to rising fuel prices and large capital costs for environmental improvements and new gas/nuclear capacity to meet projected demand. The dilemma is that this client is already buying power from the local utility at the best possible rates and at the read more…

J.Pollock was retained by a group of industrial electricity users to provide expert analysis and testimony in several pending rate cases. In reviewing the testimony and exhibits filed by two electric utilities, J.Pollock noticed that both utilities had accumulated a depreciation reserve surplus totaling more than $1 billion. In other words, the current generation of customers had overpaid for the read more…

While advising a client on the costs and benefits of switching utility suppliers, J.Pollock found a discrepancy between the energy for which the client was billed by his current supplier and the hourly loads taken from the meter. Specifically, the billed energy exceeded the actual energy by 25% on two different days. Detecting the error cost the client less than read more…

Utilities are under no obligation to select the most cost-effective rate to serve a customer. In general, taking service at higher delivery voltages is more cost-effective, particularly for larger loads. A client operating a newly commissioned facility noticed that his utility bills were much higher than anticipated and asked J.Pollock to conduct an audit. The audit revealed that the client read more…

A client asked J.Pollock to advise it on how to buy electricity in Texas. For many years, the client was accustomed to paying the local utility for the electricity service provided at multiple facilities. Each facility received a separate bill based solely on the power and energy consumption. When customer choice was implemented in portions of the Lone Star State read more…

A client group asked J.Pollock to develop and present The Electricity 101 Primer to a state regulatory commission. This is one example of J.Pollock’s ability to present a difficult subject in a simple and easy-to-understand manner.