Tradition Energy
Success in supply chain management can often be a simple matter of the connections a company makes. When it comes to finding solutions for energy, more than 3,000 companies have found success by having Tradition Energy in their corner. As one of the largest and most experienced, full-service energy management and procurement consulting firms in the world, Tradition Energy is in the business of helping its clients make the energy connections that best serve their needs and their bottom line. As Managing Director Justin Maccarone explains, the firm’s independence from energy service providers and its expertise make it ideally suited to help clients source what they’re looking for.
“We’re not selling a product – we are helping our clients procure a product and manage risk,” Maccarone says. Since 1986, Tradition Energy has served clients ranging from Fortune 500 companies to medium-sized businesses. As a subsidiary of the Tradition Group, Tradition Energy is part of a global brokerage infrastructure with resources in 28 countries and a broad range of financial and commodity expertise.
Maccarone says Tradition Energy provides value to its clients in numerous ways. First and foremost, the firm serves as an advisor to clients as they navigate the energy market, providing them with primary market intelligence and strategic advice based on that intelligence. Tradition Energy also provides clients with outsourced procurement services to help them manage contracts with energy providers and handle post-contractual interactions. Maccarone says the firm also provides data management and reporting services to help clients manage their exposure, costs, and efficiencies.
“In all capacities, we’re helping companies minimize their risk and minimize their spend,” Maccarone says.
True Advantages
No matter what kind of services Tradition Energy provides for its clients or what combination they are provided in, Maccarone says the firm brings a number of specific advantages to its clients.
One of the most important advantages Tradition Energy brings is the quality of its market intelligence, which Maccarone says stems from its presence in the energy market for nearly 30 years and its connection to parent company affiliate TFS Energy, one of the largest U.S. wholesale energy brokerage firms.
“The thing that’s most different about us is our wholesale market intelligence and expertise,” Maccarone says. “Because we’re rooted in that business, it gives us primary market intelligence and an unequaled view of what’s going on in the markets every minute of every day.”
Tradition Energy also is skilled at utilizing that market intelligence to provide customers with high-quality strategic advice, using the information it has at its fingertips to help its clients make the most informed decisions about the energy market. “In fact, our research tells us ‘strategic recommendations’ is the No. 1 reason clients choose Tradition Energy,” he says.
Additionally, Maccarone says Tradition Energy’s clients know that when they go to the firm with advice, they are receiving guidance that is unbiased. “Our advice is not influenced by our position in the market because we don’t have a position,” he says. “We’re not trying to sell a product, we’re not trying to sell a commodity and we’re not trying to sell equipment.”
Emerging Trends
One of Tradition Energy’s greatest challenges is that there is virtually no barrier to entering the energy consultation industry, and so the marketplace is flooded with smaller firms saying they can offer the same level of service as Tradition Energy. Fortunately for the firm, Tradition Energy has services that exceed what those smaller firms can do, including risk management advice, tariff reviews and efficiency consulting. “What we’re doing to combat that challenge is to be able to provide service that goes well beyond operating a brokerage service,” Maccarone says.
The other significant trend taking place within the industry today is that large companies are taking more of an integrated approach to addressing their energy management issues. “We take that approach to our clients, and we do it with the goal of sourcing the best possible market solution for their needs,” he says.
Tradition Energy is looking forward to a future of continued organic growth. Maccarone says the company made inroads into recently unregulated areas of the country, and has its sights set on expanding in certain European markets, as well. No matter where it does business, Maccarone says, Tradition Energy will continue to help clients make the right choices to minimize their energy risk and expenditures, and attain their sustainability goals.