Commercial Real Estate
Energy is one of the largest controllable costs in a commercial real estate portfolio. Most owners aren't controlling it.
Alden Energy has worked with commercial real estate owners, operators, and property managers across Texas since 2011. We understand the asset class — multi-meter properties, tenant considerations, vacancy exposure, and the timing decisions that separate well-managed portfolios from the rest.
What We Focus On
Portfolio-level thinking. If you manage multiple properties, we look at the full portfolio — staggering contract expirations strategically, aggregating load where it creates leverage, and ensuring you're not inadvertently locking unfavorable terms on one asset while getting a great deal on another.
Meter complexity. Multi-tenant buildings, common area loads, separately metered suites — we sort through the meter inventory, confirm which are deregulated and eligible for competitive pricing, and make sure every eligible meter is being managed rather than just the largest ones.
Vacancy management. A vacant suite still has a meter. We help you understand your exposure during vacancy periods and structure contracts that minimize the cost of carrying dark space.
Lease structure alignment. Whether your leases are gross, modified gross, NNN, or some hybrid, the structure of your energy contract should align with how costs flow to tenants. We verify that before presenting options.
Market timing. The ERCOT market has two seasonal windows of historically lower pricing — late September through mid-November, and mid-February through mid-March. For a portfolio manager renewing multiple assets, catching those windows across a staggered renewal calendar is where real savings can accumulate over time.
Why CRE Is Different
Commercial real estate has a more complex energy procurement profile than most industries. A single asset may have dozens of meters. Tenant leases may pass energy costs through directly or bundle them into base rent — which means the structure of your electricity contract affects both your operating expenses and your lease economics. Vacancy periods create exposure. Cap rate calculations are sensitive to NOI, and energy is a line item that moves.
Most energy brokers treat a CRE account like any other commercial customer. We don't. We've worked with enough office buildings, mixed-use projects, industrial parks, and retail centers to understand how procurement decisions interact with asset management decisions — and we bring that context to every engagement.
How Compensation Works
We are compensated by splitting the sales commission with the inside sales group of the winning retail energy provider — a figure built into the fixed price. You don't pay us directly and there's no separate fee agreement.
Frequently Asked Questions
We have a property manager handling our utilities — do we still need you?
Property managers handle a lot, but energy procurement is a specialized function that most aren't set up to optimize. We work alongside your property management team rather than replacing them — they handle operations, we handle the market timing and supplier relationships.
Can you handle properties in multiple Texas markets?
Yes — we work across the entire ERCOT footprint, which covers the vast majority of Texas. For properties in regulated territories (Entergy, parts of the Panhandle), we'll let you know upfront what options exist.
How do you handle properties with both deregulated and regulated meters?
We identify which meters are eligible for competitive pricing and focus there. Regulated meters have fewer options but we'll flag any rate class optimization opportunities on those as well.
What about properties we're acquiring or developing?
Getting ahead of the energy contract before a closing or certificate of occupancy is ideal — it's one less thing to manage during transition and ensures you're not defaulting to whatever the prior owner had in place.
Do you work with REITs and institutional owners?
Yes — we work with ownership structures of all types, from individual asset owners to institutional portfolios. Our process scales to the size and complexity of the engagement.