Skipping Stone Receives Energy Consulting Award

Los Angeles, CA – July 1, 2020 – Acquisition International magazine recently named Skipping Stone Best Specialist Energy Consulting Firm 2020-USA.

2020 Global Excellence recipients are handpicked by Acquisition International (AI) magazine based on the comprehensive analysis and research undertaken by the group. According to AI, “our proven approach ensures that selection of candidates are purely on merit – not popularity – thus recognizing and rewarding the very best in the business that are succeeding in their endeavors, innovating, growing, and improving.”

Skipping Stone’s model for over 20 years has utilized industry veterans with a variety of skills led by seasoned energy executives. This model and its practice of measuring each engagement based on client success metrics have led to thousands of energy consulting projects in over 50 countries.

“It’s always nice to be recognized for what we do by the press,” said Peter Weigand, Skipping Stone Chairman and CEO. “We’ve been fortunate enough to collect a number of awards over the years; however, the truest measure of appreciation for us will always come from our clients’ opinion of our efforts.”

Learn more here: International Services and here: Japan Services

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Skipping Stone Releases Energy Industry Coronavirus Impact Study Results

Boston, Massachusetts – April 9, 2020 – Skipping Stone, a global energy markets consulting and technology services firm released today the results of their coronavirus impact study of the energy industry. The study was performed in March and focused on anticipated business and operational impacts as well as electricity demand destruction.

The study measured management viewpoints from three energy sectors, gas and electric utilities, wholesale and retail energy gas and electric marketers and energy services and technology companies. March was chosen as awareness of the crisis in the U.S. was early, the federal and state governments had just begun to react, and the infected and mortality counts were just starting to grow. As such, in March the impacts on business were just becoming evident with the future unknown.

Some results were consistent across the three types of energy market participants. For example, 80% of all the companies had already ramped up customer communications in March. All three sectors were equally uncertain how long coronavirus would impact business operations with answers evenly spread across 30–60 days, 61-90 days, and more than 90 days. Only 10% believe the impacts will last longer than 6 months. The three sectors generally agreed on the financial impacts with 22% responding they expect a significant negative impact on revenue and profits, 52% anticipating some impact, and 25% indicating they don’t expect any financial impact.

Other results highlight different viewpoints among the three sectors studied. For example, the challenges from the huge shift to home-based workers was viewed differently. All sectors anticipate reduced productivity; however, the wholesale/retailer sector scored this concern much higher. Utilities indicated more challenges with IT issues and getting decisions made than the other two sectors.

Plans to cut costs varied widely between the sectors. 36% of utilities had no specific plans to cut costs, while only 4% of energy services and technology companies indicated no plans for cost cutting. 28% of wholesale and retailers anticipate either layoffs or salary reductions and 34% of the services and technology sector plan to do the same. Only 8% of utilities indicated plans for either layoffs or salary reductions.

For demand destruction assessment, Skipping Stone enlisted Scoville Risk Partners who has been utilizing its proprietary analytics software and databases to measure week-over-week demand reductions in wholesale power markets in key U.S. population centers due specifically to the coronavirus.

Electricity demand decreased in correlation to either a rise in coronavirus cases or state government stay at home orders. New York City, a coronavirus hot spot experienced demand decline in the first week of March of 1.41% and by the last week demand had declined by 14.87%. In California demand decline correlates to Governor Newsome’s March 19th stay at home order. In the period prior to the 19th, electricity demand for the utility SCE, serving southern California, was normal. The week after the stay at home order, SCE demand fell by 8.29% with a further drop to a demand reduction of 12.89% the last week of March.

“We hope that this study can be used by the energy industry to benchmark early assumptions against actual outcomes for emergency response planning for crises such as the coronavirus,” said Skipping Stone Chairman and CEO Peter Weigand. “While it would be nice if this were a once in a lifetime crisis, my sense is the frequency of regional and global events is only going to grow going forward. Although it seems we can’t prevent them, we can be better prepared.”

For a complimentary copy of the study results, visit https://skippingstone.com. For continuous updates on electricity demand destruction, visit www.ScovillerRiskPartners.com

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Capacity Center Releases 2019 Top 20 Pipeline Capacity Traders Report

Tenaska Ranked #1 Again at 4.8 Bcfd Traded

Boston, Mass – February 25, 2020 – Skipping Stone, a global energy markets consulting and technology services firm, announced that their affiliate, Capacity Center, has released its 12th annual Top 20 Pipeline Capacity Traders Report. In addition to the Top 20 Traders, this report lists Top 20 Pipelines traded on, together with an analysis that reveals trends in the natural gas trading market, including the numbers, duration, and quantities of deals entered into during the entire 12 months of 2019.

Capacity Center has analyzed all the pipeline capacity release transactions on every pipeline for 2019. Only trades occurring within the calendar year of 2019 were counted in the analysis and for the rankings. Only the first year of capacity rights were counted for multi-year deals to give an apples-to-apples comparison of equivalent annualized capacity on a Dth per day basis.

This past year’s trade count represents a 2.7% increase over calendar 2018. In 2019, 445 distinct trading partner company groups traded 58.8 Bcfd of Annualized Transportation Capacity on 78 pipelines – a 7.3% decrease in Annualized volume from 2018’s 63.4 Bcfd.

For 2019, Tenaska was again the top Capacity Trader. Direct Energy came in second with with BP third, Sequent fourth, and Emera Non-Regulated, fifth.

The report provides the Top 20 rankings by utilizing the 2019 entries to Capacity Center’s database of all the transportation capacity release deals on 104 tracked interstate pipelines. Rankings were determined based on annualized capacity acquired through capacity release trades excluding volumes done due to acquisitions and between related affiliates. Methodology details are described in the report.

The annual report also provides:

  1. A table with the full list of Top Twenty Pipeline Capacity Traders, their count of 2019 deals done, multi-year annualized traded capacity and changes from full year 2018 capacity trading statistics
  2. A table of the Top Twenty pipelines with their annualized and total multi-year annualized traded capacity
  3. Observations on market participation and a discussion of the size and number of capacity traders in the forward market relative to all capacity traded in the pipeline capacity market

The full report is available at CapacityCenter.com.

For more information about the rankings or about Capacity Center, contact inquiry1@capacitycenter.com or (978) 717-6144.

About CapacityCenter.com

CapacityCenter.com operates the only 24/7/365 natural gas interstate pipeline data center covering all the US pipelines. Its automated services monitor capacity release offers, system notices and deal award information, and streams available transactions and their details as they occur to its customers via email for trading, risk and regulatory compliance, as well as deal origination and valuation purposes. www.capacitycenter.com

CapacityCenter.com is owned and operated by the energy consulting firm, Skipping Stone LLC.

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Microgrid Innovations in Large Scale Implementation of EV Charging

February 18, 2020 – Atlanta, GA – Accommodating the coming expansion of EV charging and ensuring the evolving electric grid delivers benefits to all stakeholders is a growing concern for utilities in the U.S.

To help energy providers understand this challenge, a special panel session led by Skipping Stone at the Microgrid Global Innovation Forum – North America next month will focus on innovations in EV charging infrastructure which are bringing about market transformation.  Drivers behind the dramatic growth of the industry will be discussed, as well as integration of EV charging infrastructure into microgrids and the new industry being created around the reuse of EV batteries into grid-scale energy storage systems.

Speakers on the panel are:

  • Ross Malme, Partner, Skipping Stone
  • Desmond Wheatley, CEO and Chairman, Envision Solar
  • Lee Krevat, CEO, Krevat Energy Innovations
  • Alden Hathaway, Senior Vice President, Sterling Energy Assets
  • Mark Bailey, Chief Commercial Officer, Connected Energy

“Large-scale implementation of EV charging is coming, and utilities need to understand their options,” says Daniel Coran, Editor of Smart Grid Observer and program manager for the Forum. “Hybrid renewable energy microgrids will be an increasingly important tool in the utility toolbox as we move to further decarbonize the network.”

The panel session just is one of several at this year’s MGIF – North America, March 10-11 in Chicago.  The annual conference brings together key thought leaders, utilities, energy providers, and other stakeholders to examine the latest developments and lessons learned in the North America microgrid sector.

“As in previous years, this is a tremendous opportunity to interact directly with companies at the cutting-edge of microgrid deployment,” says Coran, “Top industry experts will be speaking who are pushing the envelope in terms of leveraging microgrids for grid resiliency, service flexibility, and DER integration.”

Panelist Ross Malme goes on to add, “This conference is packed with thought leaders on both the eV charging and microgrid technology fronts. For electrification of transportation to happen at scale, integration with microgrids and storage are an absolute necessity.”

The conference zeros in on refining the value proposition and business case for microgrids in North America, integration with the larger grid, and case studies of grid-tied and off-grid projects and pilots to date. Special sessions on Day 2 will focus on the closely related topic of next-gen Virtual Power Plants (VPPs) and their emerging role in orchestrating and integrating distributed renewable energy resources into the energy mix.

“North America is a key market for microgrid growth,” Coran notes. “Attendees will hear directly from industry practitioners who have real world lessons to share and who will be discussing success strategies in this market going forward.”

The Forum will be held at the Chicago Conference Center, 205 W. Wacker Drive in downtown Chicago. A Southeast Asia edition will be held next month, on April 22-23 in Bangkok.

For full information and to register for the conference, visit www.microgridinnovation.com.  Attendees who enter the special discount code SGO20 when registering will receive 20% off the standard rates.

For further information, contact Daniel R. Coran, Editor, Smart Grid Observer at
+1-815-310-3343 or dcoran@smartgridobserver.com

About SGO
SGO is an online information resource and weekly e-newsletter serving the global smart energy and green-tech sectors. SGO delivers the latest industry news on a daily basis concerning key technology developments, deployment updates, standards work, business issues, and market trends. SGO organizes several conferences each year on topics such as microgrids, grid modernization, smart cities, demand response, IoT, distributed energy resources, and more.​ For a free subscription, visit www.smartgridobserver.com

About Skipping Stone
Skipping Stone is a consulting and technology services firm that helps natural gas and electricity utilities, market participants and solution providing clients globally to navigate market changes, capitalize on opportunities and manage business risks. From innovation through strategy development, market research and assessment to implementation of business plans and technologies, the firm provides a wide array of services. Skipping Stone’s model of deploying energy industry veterans has delivered measurable bottom-line results for over 270 clients globally. Headquartered in Boston, the firm has offices in Atlanta, Houston, Los Angeles, Tokyo, Singapore and London. For more information, visit www.SkippingStone.com or www.SkippingStone.co.jp.

Media Contact:
Nancy Young
nyoung@skippingstone.com

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Peter Weigand Receives Top 10 CEO Recognition from Industry Era Magazine

Los Angeles, CA – January 10, 2020 – Industry Era magazine recently named Skipping Stone CEO Peter Weigand to their top ten list of CEOs for 2019.

Industry Era is a global magazine focused on, world-changing ideas, creativity, and the perspective of established leaders. The magazine endeavors to display how companies and individuals are revolutionizing the future and the industry.

Peter Weigand founded Skipping Stone with a view to utilizing energy industry veterans to help energy clients navigate market changes, capitalize on opportunities, and manage business risks. The energy strategy and market consulting firm has worked with hundreds of clients across the energy industry and around the world.

Peter’s vision and innovative ideas have kept him and Skipping Stone at the forefront of the ever-changing energy landscape.

“We see new strategies and business models evolve all the time. Often what we see working in one industry segment in one country can be applied in another country. We really enjoy bringing new ideas to life and collaborating with our clients to achieve success,” says Peter. “Unlike most consultancies, we do a lot more than just deliver a report. In many cases we actively engage in the launch of the ideas we collaborate to create, including sharing in the risks and rewards with our clients.”

Peter goes on to say, “While it’s nice to receive global recognition of my achievements from Industry Era, this is really an honor that is a reflection of the team we have at Skipping Stone.”

About Skipping Stone

Skipping Stone is a consulting and technology services firm that helps natural gas and electricity utilities, market participants and solution providing clients globally to navigate market changes, capitalize on opportunities and manage business risks. From innovation through strategy development, market research and assessment to implementation of business plans and technologies, the firm provides a wide array of services. Skipping Stone’s model of deploying energy industry veterans has delivered measurable bottom-line results for over 270 clients globally. Headquartered in Boston, the firm has offices in Atlanta, Houston, Los Angeles, Tokyo, Singapore and London. For more information, visit www.SkippingStone.com or www.SkippingStone.co.jp.

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Skipping Stone Hosts Seminar

Decision-Making Models in Complex Energy Markets

Tokyo, Japan – December 13, 2019 – Skipping Stone, a global energy markets consulting and technology services firm, hosted a seminar for more than 60 Japanese energy companies at the TOCOM meeting facilities. The topic of Decision-Making Models in Complex Energy Markets is increasingly relevant as the Japanese energy market continues to grow in complexity.

Peter Weigand, Skipping Stone Chairman & CEO, and Shuichi Kishida, President, Skipping Stone Japan, led off the seminar followed by Stuart Kelly, VP APAC, and David Wilson, CEO from Energy Exemplar, whose Plexos software is the global leader in analytics and decision modeling.  In addition, Steve Jenks, former head of Landis & Gyr in Japan laid out the various complexities, not just of Japan’s energy markets, but global markets as well.

“Audience participation was very robust as many attendees seem to be sorting out how to analyze and make sense of the market complexities,” said Shuichi Kishida.  “Many questions concerned the case studies provided for other global markets and how they might be applied in Japan.”

“The progression from a monopoly market to a simple initial market design followed by ever more complex markets is typical of every other liberalized energy market in the world,” indicated Peter Weigand.  “One of the keys for market participants to grow and thrive in complex markets is their ability to analyze vast amounts of data and then be able to make intelligent decisions quickly.”

About Skipping Stone
Skipping Stone is an energy markets consulting firm that helps clients navigate market changes, capitalize on opportunities and manage business risks. Our sector focus areas are natural gas and power markets, demand response, technology services, renewable energy, and distributed energy resources. Skipping Stone’s model of deploying energy industry veterans has delivered measurable bottom-line results for over 270 clients globally. Headquartered in Boston, the firm has regional offices in Atlanta, Houston, Los Angeles, Tokyo, Singapore, and London. For more information, visit SkippingStone.com or www.skippingstone.co.jp.

Media Contact:

Skipping Stone Japan
Japan_info@SkippingStone.com
(03) 5521-1070

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Skipping Stone Partner to Lead Panel Addressing U.S. House of Representatives on Energy Storage

Atlanta, GA – October 29, 2019 – Skipping Stone Partner Ross Malme has been invited to lead a panel discussion during a lunch briefing for the United States House of Representatives on Friday November 1, in Washington, D.C. The briefing is sponsored by the Honorable Mike Doyle (PA) and organized by EDF (Environmental Defense Fund).

Mr. Malme, recognized as an international authority on the subjects of Demand Response, Distributed Energy Resources and Smart Grid, will moderate the panel of energy experts and lead off with a short Primer on Storage presentation.

Panelists will include Ray Hohenstein, Market Applications Director, Fluence; Kelly Speakes-Backman, CEO, U.S. Energy Storage Association; and Alex McDonough, Vice President, Public Policy, Sunrun.

“We believe that efficient and low-cost energy storage is the backbone of a 100% clean economy,” said Elgie Holstein, EDF’s Senior Director for Strategic Planning. “Ross’ more than 30-year involvement in the field of Energy Management makes him the perfect person to moderate this important briefing about the role of energy storage in combating climate change.”

Ross Malme goes on to add, “I am honored to be selected by EDF to facilitate this panel on the value of energy storage in achieving our global objectives on climate change. This esteemed panel will provide keen insight into the energy storage market and how US government policy can facilitate the industry’s growth.”

About Skipping Stone
Skipping Stone is an energy markets consulting firm that helps clients navigate market changes, capitalize on opportunities and manage business risks. Our services include market assessment, strategy development, strategy implementation, managed services, technology selection, technology implementation, project management, and talent management. Our sector focus areas are natural gas and power markets, demand response, technology services, renewable energy, and distributed energy resources. Skipping Stone’s model of deploying energy industry veterans has delivered measurable bottom-line results for over 270 clients globally. Headquartered in Boston, the firm has regional offices in Atlanta, Houston, Los Angeles, Tokyo, and London. For more information, visit SkippingStone.com or www.skippingstone.co.jp.

About EDF
Environmental Defense Fund (edf.org), a leading international nonprofit organization, creates transformational solutions to the most serious environmental problems. EDF links science, economics, law and innovative private-sector partnerships. Connect with us on EDF Voices, Twitter and Facebook. https://www.edf.org/

Media Contact:
Nancy Young
Skipping Stone, LLC
nyoung@skippingstone.com  
+1 (832) 279-3029

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Skipping Stone and Implementary Form Strategic Alliance to Promote APAC Business Expansion

Boston, Massachusetts – October 23, 2019 – Skipping Stone, a global energy markets consulting and technology services firm, and Implementary Pte. Ltd., an Asia-Pacific (APAC) energy consulting and systems implementation firm, today announced a strategic alliance agreement to promote complementary business services to each other’s clients.

With the growing globalization trend in LNG and power markets, energy clients of both firms are requesting expanded reach to cover multiple markets with services coordinated using cross-continent resources. To address client requirements, the two companies have developed an integrated resourcing model that leverages Skipping Stone’s strengths in North America, Japan, and the European Union (EU) and Implementary’s strengths in APAC markets.

The first focus area of the alliance is wholesale trading clients who are either active in or expanding into the recently liberalized Japan power and LNG markets. The companies are planning to roll out a jointly coordinated services menu for this area. In the near future, a webinar and presentation explaining the joint services will be scheduled for clients and other interested parties.

“A number of our clients have approached us about the Japan wholesale market, especially now that the power futures market is up and running. This alliance enables us to leverage Skipping Stone’s Japan expertise and relationships and for them to leverage our APAC experience and relationships. The real winners here are energy companies who need a coordinated project with skilled resources in both APAC and Japan markets,” said Jason Novobranec, Implementary Senior Vice President.

“We are excited about this alliance for several reasons,” said Skipping Stone Chairman and CEO Peter Weigand. “Implementary is well known and respected with unique skills, one of which is CTRM requirements, selection, and implementation projects. This area has huge potential in Japan as they roll out many new wholesale markets, such as futures, capacity markets, ancillary services, and a quickly growing OTC market.”

“In some ways, this is like putting the band back together,” added John Brown, Skipping Stone Partner. “In a prior position, the Implementary team and I worked together on many successful CTRM implementations globally. Already knowing what our partners can do and having worked together in the past will make coordination very easy and benefits our clients in that they don’t have the risk of a team learning curve.”

About Implementary

Implementary Pte. Ltd. provides top-class resources to assist in Enterprise Software Implementations in the APAC region. Headquartered in Singapore and drawing upon over 35 years of experience in the Finance, Technology, Commodity and Trading spheres, Implementary offers a fully outsourced implementation, project management, and post-go-live support service to help your company deliver excellence in this demanding and high-growth region. For more information, visit Implementary.tech.

About Skipping Stone

Skipping Stone is an energy markets consulting firm that helps clients navigate market changes, capitalize on opportunities and manage business risks. Our services include market assessment, strategy development, strategy implementation, managed services, technology selection, technology implementation, project management, and talent management. Our sector focus areas are natural gas and power markets, demand response, technology services, renewable energy, and distributed energy resources. Skipping Stone’s model of deploying energy industry veterans has delivered measurable bottom-line results for over 270 clients globally. Headquartered in Boston, the firm has regional offices in Atlanta, Houston, Los Angeles, Tokyo, and London. For more information, visit SkippingStone.com or www.skippingstone.co.jp.

Media Contacts:
Nancy Young
Skipping Stone, LLC
nyoung@skippingstone.com
+1 (832) 279-3029

Jason Novobranec
Implementary Pte. Ltd.
jason@implementary.tech
+65 9776 0425

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PLMA Global Load Management Group Meets in St. Petersburg

International Distributed Energy Resource Projects to be Explored

During Interactive Session of Energy Industry Practitioners

 

St. Petersburg, Florida – September 17, 2019 – PLMA, the voice of load management practitioners in the energy utility industry, announces its Global Load Management Interest Group will gain insights from three international distributed energy resource (DER) projects during the first day of the 40th PLMA Conference, Monday, November 4, 2019, in St. Petersburg, Florida. The group session will include presentations on “The Reuse of Electric Vehicle Batteries for Grid Scale Energy Storage by Utilities in Europe” by Mark Bailey of Connected Energy, “The Aggregation of Wind Farms and Other Renewables in Europe” by Tobias Weghorn of Next Kraftewerke, and “Establishing DER Flexibility via a Decentralized Energy Exchange Platform in both Australia and the UK” by Andrew Tanner of GreenSync.

The PLMA Global Load Management Interest Group brings together energy industry professionals interested in developing new activities for PLMA members from outside of North America and offers a chance to connect with international energy companies and technology providers interested in the work of PLMA. The group is co-chaired by Jon Hilowitz, Orange and Rockland Utilities; Scott Coe, GridOptimize, and Ross Malme, Skipping Stone.

PLMA’s national conferences, presented in spring and fall, provide a forum for practitioners from energy utilities, solution providers, and trade allies to share dynamic load management expertise, including demand response (DR) and distributed energy resources (DER). For two decades, PLMA conferences, educational programs, and networking opportunities have brought member organizations together to develop, implement, and share proven practices in a peer-to-peer network – offering load management leadership for the energy industry.

“PLMA has been the global thought leader in the demand response space for two decades, and we are now expanding our focus to the flexible load management space, particularly with innovation within the international energy community,” said Jon Hilowitz of Orange and Rockland Utilities and PLMA Global Interest Group Co-Chair.

Tobias Weghorn of Next Kraftwerke added, “The energy transition to renewable energy production is posing a challenge to system operation worldwide. One approach to effective renewables integration which has proven itself in various European markets is the Virtual Power Plant. We look forward to the exchange of perspectives and best practices from two quite different energy markets.”

“The support that has been shown for the Global Load Management Interest Group from the international community and our US DR technology providers is gratifying and continues to guide the direction that our program agenda takes,” commented Ross Malme, a Group co-chair and Skipping Stone Partner. “We are pleased to continue to bring timely, informative discussions to the PLMA membership.”

To learn more and register for the Global Load Management Interest Group activity and the 40th PLMA Conference in St. Petersburg, Florida, visit www.peakload.org.

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About PLMA. PLMA (Peak Load Management Alliance) is a non-profit association founded in 1999 that serves over 160 member organizations as the Voice of Load Management Practitioners.  PLMA seeks to advance practical applications of dynamic load management and distributed energy resources by providing a forum where members educate each other and explore innovative approaches to program delivery, pricing constructs, and technology adoption.  Learn more at www.peakload.org.

About Connected Energy. Connected Energy is an engineering led innovator in energy storage. Its technologies that utilise second life electric vehicle batteries are rapidly changing the way intensive energy users can access the benefits of low-cost, on-site solutions.  The company provides a range of solutions from system feasibility assessments and system design, through to standard and bespoke system supply, equipment installation, maintenance and operation.

About GreenSync. Founded in 2010, GreenSync is a global energy technology company that develops software for the electricity industry, providing market-enabling solutions that can connect, coordinate and control millions of distributed energy resources to create more flexible, transactive grids.

About Next Krafterwerke. Next Kraftwerke operates one of the largest Virtual Power Plants worldwide and develops solutions for the electricity market of the future. The Germany based company aggregates 8,000 renewable distributed assets, as well as commercial and industrial electricity consumers and storage units, with an overall capacity of 7 GW. By providing ancillary services to system operators, the VPP helps to keep the grid in balance. Based on its experience in VPP operation and power trading, Next Kraftwerke developed a set of VPP-as-a-service products to empower energy companies worldwide to build a VPP of their own.

About Skipping Stone. Skipping Stone is an energy markets consulting firm that helps clients navigate market changes, capitalize on opportunities and manage business risks. Our services include market assessment, strategy development, strategy implementation, managed services, technology selection, technology implementation, project management, and talent management. Our sector focus areas are natural gas and power markets, demand response, technology services, renewable energy, and distributed energy resources. Skipping Stone’s model of deploying energy industry veterans has delivered measurable bottom-line results for over 270 clients globally. Headquartered in Boston, the firm has regional offices in Atlanta, Houston, Los Angeles, Tokyo, and London. For more information, visit SkippingStone.com or www.skippingstone.co.jp.

Media Contacts:

Nancy Young, Marketing Director, Skipping Stone – 832-279-3029; nyoung@skippingstone.com

Ed Thomas; Executive Director, PLMA; (707) 652-5333;  ethomas@peakload.org

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Skipping Stone Presents at TOCOM Workshop

Retail, Trading, and Generator Companies’ Use of Electricity Futures Markets

Tokyo, Japan – September 4, 2019 – TOCOM has invited Skipping Stone’s CEO Peter Weigand and Max Duckworth to speak at their Electricity Futures Workshops in Tokyo today. The workshops are focused on providing Japanese retailers, trading companies and generation companies an education on how to use the new electricity futures market, which is opening September 17th.

Peter Weigand has extensive experience with futures and other forward market instruments in the U.S., U.K., and AU markets. He has worked with many retailers on their hedging and risk management strategies. As the former CEO of Commerce Energy, a large U.S. retailer, Peter led the adoption of Commerce’s hedging and use of futures to successfully improve margins.

Max Duckworth, a member of the Skipping Stone Global Team, is a former head of global trading for Constellation, one of the largest independent generation companies in the U.S.

“We’ve been involved in Japan’s liberalizing energy markets for five years now,” said Mr. Weigand, “the launch of TOCOM’s electricity futures market will be very beneficial for all types of companies and open more opportunities to provide consumers with a wider variety of price plan choices.”

About Skipping Stone

Skipping Stone is an energy markets consulting firm that helps clients navigate market changes, capitalize on opportunities and manage business risks. The company is active in over 50 countries providing strategy development, market research, business planning and launch pad services a variety of retail, utility, trading, generation and technology companies. Headquartered in Boston, the firm has offices in Atlanta, Houston, Los Angeles, Tokyo, and London.

For more information, visit SkippingStone.com or www.skippingstone.co.jp.

Media Contacts:

US:
Skipping Stone, LLC
info2@skippingstone.com
832-279-3029   

Japan:
Skipping Stone GK
japan_info@skippingstone.com
+81 3-5521-1070

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