Client:Imperial Irrigation District
Date:May 03, 2013

Imperial Irrigation District

When Merrigan Energy Group was brought in as a consultant, the IID merchant trading real-time operation was staffed 6 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding holidays. Because they were a real-time trading company they needed to provide their service 24/7. IID had been under contract with another energy company to provide shift coverage for all of the remaining hours and days. After an analysis of the other energy company’s services, IID found they were incurring a cost of $9 million annually due to non-optimal transactions. MEG proposed the following business plan:

  • Transition to an in-house 24-hour trading operation
  • Restructuring of the districts energy trading organization
  • Staffing solutions
  • Training and security plan for switch to 24/7
  • Precautionary measures to mitigate exposure during transition from contracted company to fully managed 24/7

The result of the overall business plan was a projected savings of $9 million a year. MEG set up a real-time and day-ahead trading plan, including a trading desk that created many local jobs and increased IID’s control over their assets.

 “We brought Merrigan Energy Group in to audit our overall operational efficiency. By the time they were finished, we had an executable real-time and day-ahead trading plan in place, a trading desk creating local jobs and increased control over IID assets. These measures have put us on pace to save over $9 million per year, a great ROI for our ratepayers.” – Jim Hanks, Board of Directors, Vice President District 3