May 2023

Key Takeaways

Natural gas contracts for May 2023 settled on Tuesday at $2.12/Dth, 4.5% lower than the closing price from the week before. Prompt Month futures for June closed at $2.4/Dth, 13% higher than the May settlement price. We’ve seen the recent disruption to New England prices reverse course over the past week, with a notable decrease in electricity prices. The NEPOOL 12-month strip decreased 6.84% week-over-week, settling at $70.53/MWh. The WTI 12-month rolling strip settled at $72.78/Barrel last week, down 3.9% from the week prior. Last week’s losses were largely driven by growing recession fears and anticipation of further interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve.


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An Update from a (Mostly) Electrified Home


By By Eben Perkins, Vice President, Consulting

My wife and I live in South Portland, Maine in a single-family home that was built in 1920. We moved into the house in 2016, shown below, and have been slowly working our way through a project list that has taken us on an interesting adventure from the basement up to the attic. We’ve gotten a first-hand lesson about how to deal with mold and bats upstairs, and how to jerry-rig the wooden fence in the backyard to not fall over from the wind. YouTube videos have been our savior....  


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CES SPOTLIGHT Eben Perkins

Eben Perkins, Vice President, Consulting joined Competitive Energy Services in 2016. Eben manages CES’ consulting practice, helping customers complete targeted energy market assessment, understand state and federal legislation and regulatory activity, evaluate on-site and offsite project opportunities, and develop long-term strategic plans for energy infrastructure investment for their facilities.

 

Eben authored this month’s CES Insights blog, titled “An Update from a (Mostly) Electrified Home” about how his family’s efforts to electrify their home in South Portland, Maine, including making energy efficiency improvements, installing an air-source heat pump system, and purchasing an electric vehicle. The blog details how these measures have impacted energy costs for the Perkins’ household and other adventures along the way.

 

Each day, Eben shares his energy expertise with colleagues and clients and finds great enjoyment working with the CES team and helping clients be successful. Many of you know and work with Eben and rely on his wisdom and guidance to navigate an ever-changing energy landscape. In a recent interview, Eben shared a bit more about his career trajectory, personal interests, and insights and inspirations along the way.  


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Photo by: Nina Callanan

CES SEMINAR Register Today!

Energy prices climbed to a decade high last year but have moderated this spring. As we, once again, prepare for the warmer months ahead, we at Competitive Energy Services (CES) have been reflecting on the wild commodity price swings of the past 12 months and thinking about the factors that will impact markets in 2023 and beyond. We’re also pondering the macro trends that are likely to significantly reshape energy markets and how to plan for the inevitable change that’s on the energy horizon.


Register to attend our upcoming free online energy market seminar, titled “Bridging the Future: Managing the Energy Commodity Transition," which will be held on Wednesday, June 7 from Noon – 1:00 p.m. (including Q&A) and will cover timely topics relevant to energy markets, to your business – and to your budget. Join CES Energy experts who will be on hand that day to cover top-of-mind energy topics, including:


· A review of energy commodity markets over the past 12 months and how prices were impacted by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the weather, and other key factors.


· A near-term look at what you should expect from energy markets over the coming 12 months along with the primary risk variables.


·  Future trends – a summary of macro trends that will impact energy markets over the next decade.


All seminar attendees are automatically entered into our Seminar Half-time AND End-of-Seminar Giveaways! 

Register Today!

BIG 10 & FRIENDS UTILITY CONFERENCE 2023 CES to Present

CES is pleased to be a part of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst’s Big Ten & Friends Utility Conference 2023, which will take place on the university’s campus from June 20 – 23.


Keith Sampson, Senior Vice President, Energy Services; Zac Bloom, Vice President, Head of Sustainability and Renewables; and Eben Perkins, Vice President, Consulting will be among the featured presenters at the four-day conference, which brings together facilities managers and energy specialists from universities across the U.S. to share lessons learned and best practices in campus utilities operations. This year’s conference agenda will feature discussions on pathways to carbon neutrality, energy resiliency, women in facilities, utility systems operation, maintenance innovations, and more,


For the conference schedule and to register, click here.

CES RECOGNIZED AS TOP SUPPLIER Coke Northeast Awards Dinner

Competitive Energy Services was recognized by Coke Northeast at a recent awards ceremony as one of its top suppliers for 2022.


Charlie Agnew, Vice President for Energy Services represented CES at the event, which took place on Wednesday, April 19 in Manchester, New Hampshire. “Our relationship with Coke Northeast has grown and expanded over the years and runs along a continuum of procurement, to planning, to evaluation of services and energy-related opportunities. Over time, we’ve successfully explored electricity options for their sales and distribution centers and manufacturing facilities, including fuel cells, and arrived at important energy and business solutions that have resulted in savings and efficiency for Coke Northeast. Through our work together, we’ve formed a strong alliance. We value our partnership and this special honor and, collectively as a company, are grateful to Coke Northeast for this recognition.” 

 

Along with CES, other Coke Northeast Top Supplier honorees for 2022 include International Paper, Messer, South Eastern Container Company, and W.B. Mason.  

Staff Pick Eben Perkins

The River of Doubt

By Candace Millard

At once an incredible adventure narrative and a penetrating biographical portrait, The River of Doubt is the true story of Theodore Roosevelt's harrowing exploration of one of the most dangerous rivers on earth. The River of Doubt; it is a black, uncharted tributary of the Amazon that snakes through one of the most treacherous jungles in the world. Indians armed with poison-tipped arrows haunt its shadows; piranhas glide through its waters; boulder-strewn rapids turn the river into a roiling cauldron. From the soaring beauty of the Amazon rain forest to the darkest night of Theodore Roosevelt's life, here is Candice Millard's dazzling debut. (Amazon.com Review)

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If you have a pressing energy question, or would like to hear about a particular topic in a future edition of the CES Insider, please contact us on our website today. We look forward to hearing from you!
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