The problem

Electricity costs were on the rise in slow season

Beginning with just a single location in Manhattan, Five Iron Golf is a fast-growing sports and entertainment destination that has quickly grown to a presence across 5 different states. Boasting a variety of golf simulators, lessons, games, and food and drink options, Five Iron has seen strong success by opening the world of golf to city-dwellers who no longer have to travel to hit the links. As they continue to pursue opportunities for expansion and investment, all eyes are on the health of the business and finding ways to improve margins. 

Five Iron came to David Energy with concerns about their high electricity bills, particularly noticing that rising costs during the slower summer season were becoming a larger portion of their P&L. With their eyes turned to growth, Five Iron knew they had bigger fish to fry than focusing on their energy spend – from confusing bills to the headaches of navigating brokers and the utility. They wanted to be able to lower costs without stressing the details. 

“As a growing brand, we want to make sure we’re making the right energy decisions,” says Matt Stillman, Chief Financial Officer. This made David Energy’s holistic solution of energy management with an advisory team a perfect fit. 

The opportunity

Getting to the root cause of increasing energy spend

David Energy initiated a comprehensive bill audit across four Five Iron locations. This revealed several previously unknown factors that were responsible for their growing bills.  

Demand charges:
The Long Island City location had long been a problem site, with electricity bills that seemed unusually high for its size. Digging in, we uncovered it was because this location had high peak demand. This measure of maximum electricity consumption can significantly increase utility delivery charges. 

Scam rates and high prices:
Our audit discovered that one location was on a rate of 20 cents – nearly double the market average at the time – with a supplier they had never heard of. This was a tell-tale indicator they had fallen victim to a “slamming” scam. 

Rate class changes hiked their rates:
Finally, we identified that some of their locations had been subject to a rate class change – a utility designation based on a business’s peak demand – meaning they were now subject to different charges and had new factors to consider when looking to reduce costs.

With a clear picture of the precise problems that were driving Five Iron’s spend up, we turned our attention to resolution. 

“We could see immediately that David Energy’s electricity expertise was exactly what we needed to address the problem strategically, recognizing that going to a broker for a new quote or trying to make thermostat changes wasn’t going to move the needle,” says Matt. “We needed a complete solution, and it was clear they could deliver.”

The solution 

Going beyond the rate

We delivered a comprehensive solution that was easy for Five Iron to implement, and addressed the most important issues at hand that were driving up their bills – beyond just their electricity rates. 

Better rates and scam protection:
We customized a blended, multi-site rate for Five Iron that offered both affordable costs and consistency across locations. This lowered their spend significantly right off the bat – particularly at the slammed location. With David Energy’s bill protection feature, they’ll enjoy built-in monitoring their bills for future rate issues, so this never happens again.

Operational improvements for reducing usage:
To control their spend, we jumped in on the ops side. We installed smart thermostats with customized schedules that could be managed remotely in our platform. To mitigate the increased utility demand charges, which aren’t negotiable, we turned our attention to peak demand reduction efforts: Identifying the time period before the lunch rush as the biggest spend driver, and developing strategies to smooth out those costly peaks in energy use. 

Incentive programs:
Finally, as a David Energy client Five Iron unlocked access to exclusive energy market incentive programs. Paired with our smart thermostat technology, they were able to automate their energy usage to take advantage of these programs – to the tune of over $3375, without lifting a finger. 

The result 

Savings that move the needle

Five Iron Golf started seeing immediate improvements with their problematic high bills. Over the next year, the results showed: 

• A 46% rate reduction from switching off their unauthorized supplier, resulting in $5,311 in avoided costs 
• Consistently lower electricity usage saving an estimated $7,657
• $3,375 in easy-use incentive programs 
• Total savings:  $16,343

For Five Iron, it was all about bringing in energy expertise to find the big-impact changes they could make, then put those changes into action on autopilot without having to sweat the details. Says Matt, “David Energy has helped us understand our spend and ways to reduce costs. We fully trust them as our eyes and ears, monitoring thermostats and making recommendations.”

For growing businesses like Five Iron, our solution offers the perfect blend of advisory and software automation to know you’re set up for success. Things run smoothly in the background, with everything taken care of so those headaches never come up again. 

As Matt puts it, “With David Energy monitoring our energy operations, we can focus on our business.”

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