How we work
An energy team runs six functions — procurement and risk management, cost operations, risk & markets, load & assets, sustainability, and regulatory intelligence. We run all six (Turnkey), or we own the scope you assign alongside your internal energy lead (Co-Managed Advisory). The scope changes; the team and the depth don't.
The operating model
Every Pilot engagement runs on the same six functions. What changes is who runs which one. In Turnkey, Pilot operates all six. In Co-Managed Advisory, scope is defined at engagement design — Pilot operates the functions your team assigns, coordinated with the rest under your energy lead's ownership.
TURNKEY · ALL SIX FUNCTIONS
Pilot runs commercial strategy, cost operations, risk & markets, load & assets, sustainability, and regulatory intelligence — end-to-end.
CO-MANAGED ADVISORY · SCOPE DEFINED
Pilot owns the scope you assign. The team and depth don't change — only the reach. Coordinated cadence with your internal energy lead.
The six functions in detail
An in-house energy manager runs about thirty different things — from contract negotiation to capacity tag management to monthly board reporting. Pilot groups them into six functions, each with a clear remit.
How you buy energy
What you're paying and why
What you're exposed to
How you use energy
What you owe the world
What's changing
Same regardless of engagement model
We sit on your side of the table.
Pilot doesn't sell power or install equipment. Our compensation is structured to never depend on which supplier wins your business. When brokerage is part of the work — and sometimes it is — it's a tool we use for you, not the business model.
The same team, year over year.
The energy advocates assigned to your account stay assigned. No rotating cast. No re-explaining your portfolio every twelve months. Our client relationships go back 25 years; most of our senior advocates have more than 15 years of industry experience.
You see what we see.
Every engagement runs on PowerUp. Real-time market data, contract visibility, capacity tracking, and the data behind every recommendation, in one place. The dashboard your finance team and board see is the same one we work from.
The first 90 days
Energy advisory engagements often start with a 60-minute kickoff and a 90-day "discovery" period before anything happens. Pilot doesn't work that way. Here's the sequence — same shape regardless of engagement model, compressed for Co-Managed scope.
Week 01
Scope definition for Co-Managed (which functions Pilot owns). LOA execution. Supplier and utility data requests issued. PowerUp access provisioned for client team.
Weeks 02–04
12 months of invoices and contracts loaded. First tariff audit completed. Outstanding refund opportunities flagged. Market posture and renewal calendar mapped. First reporting cadence established with stakeholders.
Weeks 05–08
Tariff switches filed where applicable. Refund claims submitted. Hedge strategy reviewed against current portfolio. Capacity tag tracking initiated. First monthly variance report delivered.
Weeks 09–13
Renewal RFPs prepared for any contracts expiring in the next 12 months. DR program enrollment evaluated. Decarbonization opportunities scoped if relevant. Board-level energy briefing prepared if requested. Engagement settles into ongoing operating rhythm.
By month four, every Pilot engagement is running at steady-state — operating cadence locked, reporting structures in place, market posture defined, near-term wins delivered or in progress.
Pricing logic
We can't quote a number on a website without knowing your portfolio — and any firm that does is selling something. Here's how Pilot thinks about pricing instead.
01
Turnkey is priced as a managed engagement — typically annual retainer scaled to portfolio complexity (sites, markets, spend, contract velocity). Co-Managed is priced to the defined scope, with formal annual review.
02
Every fee structure is disclosed in the engagement agreement. When fees are recovered through supplier-side mechanisms (sometimes they are, when it's structurally efficient), it's documented and the amount doesn't bias which supplier we recommend.
03
Pilot compensation is structured so the firm wins when the client wins. We don't take percentage-of-savings deals (creates perverse incentives around baseline). We don't take supplier rebates that depend on which supplier you choose.
Practical answer: a 30-minute call gets you a portfolio sketch and a fee range within a week. No commitment to engage.
Talk to Pilot
A 30-minute call with one of our energy advocates. We'll listen to where you are, ask specific questions about your portfolio, and tell you whether Pilot is the right fit — and what shape the engagement would take if so.