We’ve emerged from the strongest bout of winter Michigan has seen in three years.  Natural gas utility bills grabbed the attention of many businesses for a frigid week.

Now that sub-zero wind-chills have given way to a wintry mix, we can catch our breath for a moment.  Forecasters are calling for warmer temperatures throughout Michigan over the next couple of weeks.

That doesn’t mean winter is over.  Longer-term forecasts are also showing temperatures near or below average for much of February and March.  That can change abruptly, one way or another.  For now, the weather is giving us all a window of opportunity to evaluate your natural gas plans and ensure we’re prepared for the rest of winter and beyond.

 

Remember That You Have Choices

Your utility leaves it up to you to ensure you’re on the most favorable rates, as we discussed previously.

This involves more than your gas supply cost.  It also applies to the distribution rates you pay to your utility, regardless of how you’re buying natural gas supply.

Chances are, your energy usage has evolved with your business over the years.  And the utilities continue to request and implement distribution rate increases to cover the increasing costs of maintaining their infrastructure.

The more things change, the more it could cost you if an unfavorable rate structure remains the same.  This is especially true of businesses that use a lot of energy or have multiple locations.

 

Let’s Take a Look

We routinely monitor the rate structures for many of our customers who provide us copies of their natural gas utility bills.  This analysis is also an important part of our process when proposing solutions to a prospective customer.

Not every utility handles customer data the same way, however.  The reports and data available to suppliers, and the procedures for retrieving it, can vary by utility and supply program.  Whereas the data typically paints enough of the picture to make educated business decisions, there are times we still need to request utility bills from our customers to fill in some gaps.

And we of course can’t get your data directly from your utility without your permission.  Standard utility practice is to ensure Customer Data Privacy, with detailed policies outlined in their tariff.

Whether you’re a business considering working with us, or a long-time Dillon Energy customer who hasn’t sent us your bills in a while, we’ll happily evaluate your gas utility bills.  You can upload to our website (choose Quick Analysis of Utility Bills for My Business) or email to us.

 

Security & Confidentiality

Like the utilities, we believe your data privacy is critical.  This includes your account and meter numbers, and other identifying information.

As you’re probably aware, there are some rogue actors out there using deceptive marketing tactics to get account numbers and slam customers.  You could see your rates shoot up abruptly if your account number ends up in the wrong hands.

Fortunately, the utilities and the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) have layers of protection in place.  So if someone manages to sneak through and slam one of our customers, we can often catch it quickly and work with the utilities to restore service with minimal impact.

We’ve also been able to help businesses we’re working with for the first time, when they come to us after having been slammed at some point in the past.  They may not realize how much they’ve been overpaying, or for how long.

 

What’s Lurking in Your Utility Bills?

Hopefully you aren’t overpaying right now.  We look forward to helping you confirm that.

If you’re thinking of working with Dillon Energy for the first time, let’s talk.

The starting point is typically an analysis of your utility bills, focusing on your usage patterns and utility rate structure.  That data is important.  So to ensure you’re comfortable providing us with your utility bills for analysis, we encourage you to redact your account numbers and any other identifying information.

If you ultimately decide to contract with us for our services, we’ll need your account information at that point, of course.  By then we hope to have earned your trust, and the information you’re providing will be protected within our business relationship.

Additionally, please do not send us any bills or data you’re receiving from a third-party supplier other than your gas utility.  That likely contains the supplier’s confidential information.

We want to earn your business by demonstrating value and setting up the right plan for you going forward.  Our value proposition does not consist of reverse-engineering a plan previously implemented by another supplier.  Nor does it consist of discrediting someone else’s plan with the benefit of hindsight.

Your current energy plan may have been a good fit when it was first set up at some point in the past.  By now, utility rates and market conditions are likely quite different.  And how have your energy needs and business priorities changed since then?

One of the reasons we’ve been serving Michigan businesses for more than 20 years is because we believe it’s important to educate our customers and protect their businesses.

Contact us and send your natural gas utility bills to get started.