Stephen is a highly knowledgeable energy industry professional with 15 years experience in the utilities sector since the deregulation of the electricity and gas markets in Australia. With a varied past as a small business owner and operator of a few ventures, a diverse sales background, a love for numbers and obsession for dissecting fine print; Stephen is perfectly suited to excelling as an energy consultant in the business arena.
Beginning in the Victorian energy market as a sales consultant for Small to Medium Businesses with an emerging electricity retailer, Stephen quickly progressed to become an instrumental part of the retailer’s successful entry into the newly deregulated South Australian energy market. Stephen became well known for his insightful knowledge and skills in the industry and was approached to join a startup company in a role which would become Senior Manager of the commercial energy team. During this time, Stephen’s immense understanding of the energy industry was pivotal in transforming the enterprise from a fledging business into a company with over 50 staff generating millions of dollars in revenue.
Following a growing calling to step out on his own Stephen developed his own consultancy, Ferguson Energy Consulting Services, operating as an independent energy management consultant in all deregulated areas across Australia. Within his portfolio Stephen has retained many loyal clients since the start, a testament to the value that his energy consulting services continue to deliver year after year for many businesses. To stay ahead of the game, Stephen avidly keeps up to date with all changes and legislative requirements in the constantly evolving energy sector, so that his clients always benefit from the latest information insights and first mover advantage.
Ferguson Energy Consulting Services is currently undergoing a name change to Energy Genie, however the service and focus remains the same – to provide exceptional value, affordable solutions powered by unsurpassed knowledge, which assists Small to Medium Enterprises, Commercial Organizations and Industrial Businesses in gaining and maintaining control of their energy accounts to minimize costs in the long term.
Stephen became an energy management consultant because of his experience during his early years in the industry where he could see the struggles often faced by many businesses in understanding the complexities of business energy supply. This frequently resulted in businesses suffering unnecessarily from being locked into extremely high energy costs or incurring massive lump sum payments and facing severe financial stress ranging from enormous budget blow outs to crippling monetary crises threatening the life of the business as a result.
As a small business owner in the past, he knew how tough it could be to keep a business going and had experienced first-hand how large unexpected bills could make or break a business, and so he was inspired to help other business owners succeed by assisting them through the maze of issues that can arise and cause numerous problems and escalated costs in commercial electricity contracts.
It is this motivation to support Australian businesses that drives the guiding philosophy behind Energy Genie – we always have your return on investment front of mind by ensuring that our fees are never disproportionate to our results achieved for your business. Energy Genie is genuinely committed to assisting your business source and manage the most suitable and effective option available at any given time to reduce the impact of energy costs. As a result, Energy Genie is well respected by many loyal clients and within the energy industry for the honesty, diligence and care taken when managing the energy requirements of a business, no matter how large or small.
Energy Genie provide business energy management solutions for Commercial Organizations, Industrial Businesses, Small to Medium Enterprises, Associations, Groups and Clubs. Our core services are Energy Procurement and Energy Cost Management which minimize and control the ongoing costs of energy supply for your business.
Our Best Practice Energy Procurement process sources cost effective electricity prices with energy contract terms suitable to the energy usage patterns of your business to deliver long term savings. It involves defining your current site requirements by sorting, collating and analyzing detailed usage data for the last 12 months, preparing and presenting the site load profile to capable energy retailers to seek offers, evaluating offers and terms from energy retailers, negotiating favorable terms which minimize penalties or optimize discounts based on the characteristics of the individual energy account, calculating cost comparisons for each individual site, presenting and explaining the offers to your business, organizing and lodging offer acceptance paperwork, followed by validating the first bill of the new energy contract to ensure it complies with the original offer.
It is a very common misconception that the energy price is regarded as the central issue in saving money on bills, yet in the business energy market, acquiring competitive electricity prices is only part of the equation in reducing costs. The other part of the equation is ongoing monitoring and management of the energy usage during the term of an energy contract. The ongoing monitoring and management is provided through our Energy Cost Management services which reduce business energy risk and maximizes opportunities for your business.
Throughout the year we periodically examine the daily usage and demand levels of the electricity that your business used in order to identify any abnormalities or spikes so that prompt action can be taken if corrective measures are required to reduce costs. A comprehensive evaluation is also undertaken annually and if the site’s usage pattern changes, to review the monthly usage and demand levels, assess the maximum demand and analyze the annual network tariff, to evaluate whether adjustments may be made to reap additional savings.
Furthermore, our proactive Energy Cost Management service means that we are constantly scanning the energy market for dips in pricing, so we can enable your business to take advantage of these opportunities to save by sourcing future energy contract offers for your business that lock in low prices when market conditions are favorable.
Vast in-depth knowledge and exceptional data analytic capabilities in the energy supply market sector of the energy industry, paired with an authentic commitment to provide an affordable value for money service which genuinely assists businesses; are the core strengths which set us apart in Energy Procurement and Energy Cost Management for businesses.
Whilst many others claim to offer customized energy supply management solutions for businesses, on closer inspection they are usually only paying lip service to this statement. It is common routine for others to categorize their clients into predefined profiles for which the same solution is uniformly applied regardless of whether it is the most efficient or appropriate way. This blanket approach often creates overlooked unintended consequences. We have seen many disastrous outcomes from businesses that have been burnt by this approach and have ended up with energy costs going through the roof from inappropriate tariffs, unsuitable energy contract terms, poorly timed energy contracting, transfer issues left unresolved, hefty hidden service fees and the list goes on.
At Energy Genie we carefully and thoughtfully consider every facet of your big business energy requirements, because we know that these details may mean the difference between a successful outcome or an enormous disaster. We draw upon our extensive knowledge and outstanding data analytic capabilities to build unique solutions from the ground up for each business, with every element of the energy supply details checked to ensure it is beneficial to your bottom line. Your business is given the greatest competitive advantage with our bespoke solutions that minimizes both costs and risks while maximizing opportunities for long term benefits.
Medium to small businesses are also greatly advantaged from our energy procurement and management services but typically do not have the same high level of requirements nor the same level of complexity in business energy needs. At Energy Genie we will never use a sledgehammer to crack a nut – rather than charging for services you do not need we are mindful to choose the most suitable approach which scales our services appropriately so that we always offer the most apt solutions which are never disproportionate to the benefits received.
Ensuring that the energy needs of all our clients from large to small are sensibly managed is just the start of Energy Genie’s genuine commitment to assisting all businesses. Put simply, we always act in your best interests. Fees are fully disclosed in a transparent manner whereas many muddy the waters to lock businesses into fees that they are unaware of until we identify them on the energy bills or paperwork. We continuously work for your benefit not ours, whereas we often see businesses that have been encouraged to sign up to long term agreements on high rates due to the larger ongoing commissions and/or the lesser amount of work involved for the consultant. We are proud to be independent unlike some who have a hidden agenda and heavily promote products from related companies without disclosing the financial relationship. Our unbiased approach means our suggestions are always sincerely based on what is best for you and your business.
Florsheim Australia has benefitted from the expertise of Energy Genie’s Stephen Ferguson since 2009. His unique service has helped us to cut through the notoriously confusing industry jargon to keep our costs in check and he has always been professional, attentive and willing to assist regarding any aspect of our energy needs. We look forward to enjoying an ongoing association for many years to come.
Our association has been involved with Ferguson Energy Consulting Services, now known as Energy Genie, for the past ten years to look after our power supply. Their ongoing support is the key to the benefits we have achieved and continue to attain as we are now a consolidated group and every time a new member joins the group they receive the same discounted rate as the rest of the group.
We didn’t realise how different and complicated getting electricity sorted for our common area was, compared to getting plans for our homes. Turns out it was another world in terms of how bills are calculated based on concepts we had not heard of much less considered. Thankfully we could rely on these professionals to guide us through, and we cut our electricity costs substantially.
cohealth has had an association with Stephen Ferguson for many years. Stephen has provided invaluable support in negotiating the maze of electricity and gas. He has navigated cohealth through consolidation of retailers, efficiencies through enhanced billing platforms, competitive tendering, contract negotiations, ongoing monitoring & day to day support.
The service, information, knowledge provided was second to none. They assisted us in finding a provider that was best for our business and helped to make sense of a heap of issues with our past contract. Not only that – saved us a lot of money. I would highly recommend them.
