Greenhouse Gas emissions have been receiving a lot of attention recently as the change in US Administration along with President Obama’s declarations on the matter appear to mean a change in the stance of one of the largest polluting nations. Meanwhile, other initiatives have taken place both within the US and in others regions of the world. At this time, despite continued uncertainties, we may well stand on the precipice of an era in which Carbon becomes a globally traded commodity and in which companies, particularly energy companies, are forced to monitor, track, report and reduce their GHG and other emissions.

Against this regulatory and legislative background, two software categories stand to benefit as companies seek to capture their carbon footprint, report on their emissions and trade various instruments to manage their emissions profile and allowances or simply profit from speculative trading in those instruments. Those two software categories are CTRM software for emissions and Emissions Monitoring software.

Environmental software is evolving to capture greenhouse Gases data for a single facility as well as across the enterprise. While most Companies are still collecting this data on spreadsheets, the day is rapidly approaching when government mandatory reporting requirements will drive significant change in this industry. In fact, we foresee that environmental software solutions should be transparent end-to-end, highly automated and scalable. They should be easily customizable as well and adaptable to changing regulations and standards. Carbon management strategies will need to incorporate changing regulations in its software design.

We undertook this study to determine the present state of the market for this software. What we have found is that most companies are not yet capturing greenhouse gas data using software applications. That represents a unique business opportunity on a corporate level to deploy new software technology to existing systems. In fact, both software categories remain somewhat immature lacking the regulatory certainty and impetus to truly take off. The survey that we undertook as the core of this study strongly indicates that this is an emerging yet immature area. While Emissions Monitoring software is attracting investment capital and the interest of larger software vendors such as SAP and IHS, it will take US action to ignite activity in this market.

Currently, there are a large number of vendors participating in the market. As many are relatively new entrants, much of the software benefits by being on modern technologies and architectures and from being offered under cost effective deployment models such as ASP and SaaS. We have attempted to broadly classify this emerging market and see interest from tradition TRM software vendors, Environmental consulting firms, Compliance and Risk Management software providers as well as traditional EH&S suite vendors. The result is a confusing array of potential solutions that offer a variety of different functionalities ranging from monitoring and compliance, through foot printing, trading, registry interfacing and reporting to tracking and management of allowances. Without regulatory certainty, actual required functionality it appears may be difficult to pin down.

Another issue facing vendors was highlighted by our study. That of where corporate responsibility truly lays for GHG emissions issues. Without a true regulatory impetus many companies may be paying no more than lip service to the issue currently and have not yet created the organizational responsibilities, accountibilities and budgets required.

We believe that once the US acts, it will prove to be the catalyst to enact global rules and standards that will clear up much uncertainty and start to drive procurement activities in a much more positive manner. The literally tens if not hundreds of potential solutions and suppliers of software in this area will then be forced to rapidly adopt those standards to support their clients and potential clients business processes. As this occurs there will be a natural fall out of vendors who do not survive and new entrants making acquisitions such that the sector will mature reasonably rapidly.

In undertaking the study we were particularly interested in the coming clash of the Emissions Monitoring and Missions Trading vendors. In reality, while there will need to be integration between the two types of software, we feel that the evidence suggests that the existing CTRM vendors will have a relatively easy task of adding GHG trading and risk management functionality in to their software and will continue to own that part of the business. As the Emissions Monitoring side develops and matures it will naturally leave an area of functionality related to tracking and managing allowances that can be likened to the ‘logistical’ side of managing Carbon. This area will likely be fertile ground for new players such as IHS but may also be tackled by CTRM vendors.

Our report then examines the current regulatory and legislative position and the drivers behind developing this market concluding that regulatory certainty is required to drive the market to the tipping point. It then examines the software market itself concluding that both segments are relatively immature and finally provides a list of many of the vendors and products in the space currently.

This study report examines the impact of recent changes in commodity markets on traders and TRM software requirements. The report considers the impact of the financial crisis among other factors.

This study was designed to examine Risk Management in the Energy and Commodities Market in order to produce:

·         A review of the current state of risk analytics used in the market;

·         An assessment of the systems deployed there;

·         The key risk management requirements of companies trading in the market;

·         An assessment of where risk management is headed in commodity and energy trading and its impact on the systems.

CommodityPoint and Seminel utilized a combination of a web-based questionnaire (Appendix A) and phone and/or in-person interviews with industry participants to determine their views along with secondary research and interviews. The survey, which was conducted between July and October 2009, had 47 valid responses.

The respondents to this study came from a diverse background across the commodities space with a general bias towards physical energy players such as utilities, generators and refiners and while just under half of the respondents were based in North America, there was good geographic diversity with strong European participation.

The study was sponsored by Abacus Solutions, Amphora, SAS/RiskAdvisory and SolArc.

There were more than 112 million blogs as of March 2008 with new blogs being created at a rate of 175,000 per day and 1.6 million new blog posts per day according to Technorati, a blog tracking website.

How many of these are focused on energy, natural resources or commodities is anyone’s guess- but it is a big number.

And how has the blog caught on as a corporate communication tool in energy and utilities? UtiliPoint has observed a growing trend among software vendors in the space to add a blog to their website as well as among mainstream publishers and even some Utility companies.

This survey was conducted to establish just how much influence blogs have in the space and how important a tool they are becoming for corporate communications. The survey seems to demonstrate that blogs in the energy industry are beginning to gain in importance both as an information source and as a promotional device.

This report bundle includes two UtiliPoint reports at a special combined price:

The 2008 North American Energy Trading, Transaction and Risk Management (ETRM): Market Analysis and Sizing Report

The 2007 European Markets for Energy Trading, Transaction and Risk Management (ETRM): Market Size and Analysis Report

The CommodityPoint TRM Vendor Perception study is repeated every two years and represents a view of how users and prospective buyers perceive the market landscape. By capturing a representation of user and buyer perceptions about the vendors in the space much is learned regarding market maturity and the overall evolution of TRM software. This study was conducted during the first quarter of 2009 and represents user and buyer views as of the close of 2008.

The survey indicates that the TRM software market landscape is becoming increasingly dominated by a group of transnational vendors and products that includes OpenLink Financial (OLF), Triple Point, SunGard Energy, Allegro Development, SolArc and Ventyx. Other vendors have a higher degree of importance in particular geographies (for example Navita in Europe and OATI in North America) or in particular industry segments (e.g. TradeCapture in Crude Oil and other segments, Abacus Solutions in the Generation segment and so on). In terms of brand recognition, this smaller group of more dominant vendors is increasingly well known.

The study was kindly sponsored by Navita and supported by SolArc

This important commodityPoint study looks at European CIS/Billing software markets. It includes the results of a survey of software users that reviewed what software was used, what European buyers look for in CIS/Billing software and which vendors are best known and most widely used – among other valuable data.

It also includes a comprehensive review of most European countries (Nordic, Iberian, Central and Eastern Europe) and UtiliPoint’s ranking of each country’s retail markets based on several criteria devised specifically for the study (note: countries with mature retail markets were NOT reviewed including the United Kingdom, Ireland and Netherlands).

This study will be an important starting point for any firm looking at European retail markets and CIS/Billing software requirements.

Over the last 2-3 years, Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) in the natural resources and energy sector have exploded in popularity with investors. ETF’s have actually been available to investors in the US since 1993 and in Europe from 1999. An ETF is simply a pool fund invested with a stated investment objective, for example, a tracker fund for the energy sector or geographical area. Shares owned in this fund by investors are in turn traded on an exchange. ETFs and similar exchange traded instruments allow investors of any type unprecedented access to energy, natural resource and commodity markets.

Against this background, UtiliPoint decided to undertake a snapshot survey to take a pulse check on who utilizes ETFs, why and how in the energy industry. The results of our survey will provide you with an understanding of how ETFs and similar instruments are used and why. The actual polling was performed during late January and early February 2008 and we received a total of 76 responses.

If you or your company is interested in understanding the European Energy Trading and Risk Management Software landscape then this package of proprietary UtiliPoint Europe reports will provide you with much of the information that you require.

The package includes the following reports:

• Benchmarking of European ETRM Software Markets;
• European Markets for ETRM Software – Market Sizing and Analysis;
• European ETRM Integration Survey Results; and,
• ETRM Software implementation projects – Snapshot survey results.

The combination of these UtiliPoint Europe Research reports will enable you to understand the ETRM software landscape in Europe including:

• Who are the leading products and vendors;
• What the total size of the market for ETRM software in Europe is and how it is evolving;
• How European firms procure ETRM software;
• What peripheral applications to ETRM European firms use and how well integrated their solution suites are; and,
• User experiences with ETRM implementation projects

This CommodityPoint study provides the latest analysis of the trends impacting the market for ETRM software in North America, and provides a quantitative analysis of the size of that market. Included in this report (a follow-on to UtiliPoint's 2006 North American ETRM Market Sizing and Analysis report) is an expanded examination of market forces and trends impacting market players and the providers of ETRM solutions and services. This analysis and report is backed by UtiliPoint's proprietary research and models, and provides a five year overview of the market from 2006 through 2010 covering the four primary drivers of revenues -new license sales, incremental license sales (or sales to existing customers), associated support and maintenance, and services associated with implementation of new ETRM systems. Additionally the report provides a detailed examination of the current market size, including market size by commodity and industry segment.

CommodityPoint believes this 36 page report to be the most comprehensive examination of the North American market for ETRM products available, and is critical information for investors, software firms, consulting organizations and others to support investment decisions and guide the allocation of resources (both capital and human).

This study was sponsored by The Structure Group and RiskAdvisory (A Division of SAS).

The objective of this study was to broadly understand the use of weather forecast and weather data at energy companies including:

• - Assessment of the use of on staff meteorologists;
• - Types of meteorological data utilized and its relevance;
• - Users of weather forecasts and weather data inside an energy company; and,
• - Examination of how such services are procured by energy companies.
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During the month of October 2007, UtiliPoint International Inc. conducted a ‘snapshot’ electronic survey regarding the use of weather forecast and weather data by energy companies. The survey was distributed using the UtiliPoint IssueAlert email lists and 81 total responses were collected. This report outlines the results of the survey and provides some analysis of the use of weather forecast and weather data by energy companies.

In the spring of 2007, UtiliPoint International, Inc. began a survey of European energy traders and utility companies with the objective of benchmarking and understanding their trading application and IT environment, application portfolio and levels of integration. In some respects, the study was similar to that conducted by UtiliPoint in North America in 2004. The survey did not ask about their ETRM software solution but rather the systems used around it and the levels of integration between them. The current study also looked at the IT architectures and infrastructure that support the broader trading business function.

This report provides a view of the levels of maturity of the different application areas around trading & risk management in Europe. For completeness, data has also been utilized from other UtiliPoint reports including the 2007 Benchmarking of European ETRM Software study, the North American survey referenced above and the 2005 North American Gas Company study.

The UtiliPoint International, Inc. ETRM Implementation survey was conducted as a ‘snapshot’ survey using an internet-based survey instrument only and targeting various email lists maintained by UtiliPoint. 35 respondents represent ETRM Implementation projects across North America and Europe. To our knowledge, it is the first survey to delve into the implementation of ETRM software and it therefore provides useful benchmark data for those about to undertake such a project. This report outlines the survey’s results and our analysis.

The report looks at ETRM project duration and costs, project activities including integration, enhancements, data conversion and training, the use of third-party consulting firms in implementation, respondent’s ETRM Implementation project experiences, project success rates and approach to training. While the quantitative metrics provide good data points for ETRM Implementation project managers, it is the lessons learned section that may provide the most value to report readers.

This CommodityPoint study utilized both top-down and bottom-up proprietary analysis techniques to establish the European market size for ETRM software license sales in 2007 for all energy commodities. The final report details the ETRM market size by a number of parameters.

Strong demand growth in 2006 was fueled by a variety of factors including the entry into European energy markets by new players particularly financial companies and ongoing liberalization and maturing of European energy markets. This growth has continued through early 2007 and demand levels remain strong. New growth is expected to occur amongst end user markets (Commercial & Industrial companies) as well to keep demand levels high. UtiliPoint expects to see some slowing of growth in 2008 but markets will remain strong barring any unforeseen industry events.

This breakthrough survey of European users of Energy Trading, Transaction and Risk Management (ETRM) software was conducted by UtiliPoint International, Inc. during November and December, 2006 and January 2007, and fifty valid responses to the survey instrument were collected. The fifty responses include a variety of ETRM users and recommending companies across the broader European Union. Responses were obtained either by interview or by completion of an internet-based version of the questionnaire.

The report details the findings of the study including;

• - ETRM vendor brand recognition in Europe
• - Who is the perceived market leader and why
• - Installed base among respondents
• - What European buyers want in a new ETRM system
• - Replacement rates and procurement rates in 2007 and beyond
• - Where buyers go for vendor and product information
• - And a comparison with North American ETRM buyers

This study looked at the applications utilized by North American natural gas companies to support trading and trading-related activities.