Case Studies

Below, we have illustrated real-life case studies* of political subdivisions who kindly shared their contract specifics with us.

* We take the privacy of these political subdivisions seriously and therefore anonymized their identities.

The examples below show how complicated this process is, and how pricing isn’t always what it seems. (The rates in these case studies do not reflect the current market.)

Case Study 1: City Pays 5x for One RFP

Hires broker for RFP

Only Does RFP

Pays 5x More for One Service

Broker

TCAP

Write RFP

Budget Support

Regulatory Help

Legislative Lobbying

Billing Assistance

Adds/Deletes

Expert Consultants

Fee

$.0040

$.0008

Based on historic usage, this City will pay approximately $60,000 every year for the broker's provided RFP and presentation of bid results. TCAP's $0.0008 aggregation fee would have cost the City less than $12,000 per year, including a full spectrum of services and access to TCAP's industry expert consultants—none of which the broker offers.

Case Study 2: City Gets Baited & Switched

Builds New City Hall

Pays to Delete & Add Meters

Gets Higher Rate at New Meter

Broker

TCAP

Pays to Delete Old Meter

Pays to Add New Meter

Higher Rate for New Service

Fee

$.0040

$.0008

This City procures a multi-year contract through a Retail Energy Provider (REP). The city builds a new, highly energy-effecient City Hall across the street from the one in use at the time of contract iniation. The contract language requires the City to pay a penalty for deleting the meter at the old City Hall. It also requires them to pay an "add" charge for the meter and service at the new building. The final bit they failed to notice in the language was that the rate they thought they'd "locked in" would be what they'd pay at the new facility. Surprise. Their new building is billed at a higher rate. TCAP, on the other hand, has no meter add or delete charges, pooling loads across its membership to absorb the financial impact or routine operational changes to the benefit of all.