Risk Management

We balance your need for budget certainty with the pursuit of lowest price.

Using our expertise and state-of-the-art analytical tools, we balance the need for price certainty against lower-price market opportunities. Our proprietary statistical methods consider the dynamic relationships among energy prices, your tolerance for risk, usage and other variables that may contribute to high energy cost volatility.

Our energy risk-management strategy provides methodical discipline to procurement and hedging practices. Our ongoing hedge support helps you identify and evaluate favorable price opportunities that conform with pre-determined execution strategy.

The Acclaim difference

While you cannot completely avoid price risk, you can effectively manage it. Acclaim’s team of industry experts uses a statistically sound approach to maximize the opportunity for lower prices. Our experts will work with your team to plan, budget and manage future energy costs. We will also discuss with your staff risk profiles and cost-benefit trade-offs inherent in a variety of energy risk-management plans to meet your specific objectives.

Energy Risk Evaluation

We use our proprietary Budget Simulation Model to generate a range of outcomes for energy usage, cost and underlying energy prices. We use statistical methods to evaluate and quantify these outcomes. The Model incorporates price volatility, market and contract prices, and expected usage variations — then adjusts for energy conservation and operational cost measures which may be implemented during an upcoming budget cycle. Actuals are updated frequently  with real results from prior periods and fresh simulations of the remaining periods to help you track and report energy cost performance dynamically throughout the year. Acclaim’s Energy Risk Evaluation is presented in a brief, easy-to-read format.

Energy risk strategy development

Interviews with clients’ energy management staff and key financial decision makers will provide the framework for the risk-management strategy. The strategy defines the rules governing what and how many future months to lock in, triggering signals and deadlines. The completed strategy will include documentation of the hedge strategy, management controls, authorizations, reports and approved processes.

A detailed strategy not only guides the program, but also enables the energy management staff to spend much less time on market timing and increases the level of sophistication of the energy management process. Supply contracts may integrate an energy risk-management strategy for both electricity and natural gas that is specific for each appropriate geographic market and consistent with each market’s deregulatory status and structure.

Hedge execution support


Acclaim continuously monitors market activity to assess favorable versus increasingly risky price environments for hedging. Hedge recommendations are based on both technical market analysis and continuous assessment of changing risk to the underlying budget. Acclaim provides frequent summary advisories and hedge recommendations from market data that affects budget-period opportunities. In addition, Acclaim's reports monitor performance against the key metrics including budget, spot market and "Day 1" fixed price (i.e. the foregone fixed price that could be obtained at the outset of the program).

And, every Acclaim service includes our industry-leading customer service team, a trained, dedicated and knowledgeable group available to answer your questions and ensure your complete understanding and satisfaction.