"Price volatility worked in our favor. We managed to sell the surplus at a considerable profit, as the market price at that time was significantly higher than the locked-in rate we negotiated previously."

— Brad Duke

Brampton Brick is one of North America's largest brick manufacturing facilities under one roof, producing 300 million modular brick equivalent top-quality bricks per year. Its $70 million, 400,000 square-foot facility is computer controlled and operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Football-field sized, energy-efficient kilns run at temperatures of nearly 1,050 degrees Celsius.

That kind of output requires a large volume of natural gas and electricity. Brad Duke estimates that electricity accounts for 5% and natural gas accounts for 20% of his manufacturing costs, to the tune of $6.5-7 million annually.

Duke says using experts like the team at Energy Advantage Inc. to handle energy procurement strategies and negotiations can reduce the risk significantly.

"They have their thumb on the market hour-by-hour in a way that manufacturers like me just don't have the time or the expertise to consider," he says. "They understand the market and its inherent risks and are able to develop and present different strategies based on the risk tolerance of our company."

For Duke, that knowledge and understanding resulted in a deal early in 2002 that locked Brampton Brick into a two-year, low, fixed-price contract for natural gas. A similar arrangement for electricity was signed in May of the same year. He says this allowed him to know in advance exactly what he would be spending on energy each year.

Duke chose his energy management firm based on the backgrounds and knowledge level of the Energy Advantage team, in addition to the range of holistic "total energy management" packages offered, which can include everything from procurement and reporting to invoice management, to energy efficiency, emissions reduction and environmental compliance services.

"A company of Brampton Brick's size needs someone watching energy consumption and expenses at all times," he says. "Our other option was to hire a full-time energy manager, but I feel one person can never match the performance of an entire group of experts working in the energy management business full-time."

Read an article about Brampton Brick and Energy Advantage.   Click here to view the long-form article.