Link Logistics’ expertise spans key aspects of energy management for industrial real estate and warehouse properties, from sustainable infrastructure to utility account optimization.
The Link Logistics Sustainability Case Study Series explores how the firm is driving both decarbonization and customer value. This installment details how Link Logistics’ dedicated Energy Management team helped three customers across the U.S. achieve significant cost avoidance through proactive energy and utilities management.
Businesses interested in enrolling in Energy Solutions, the firm’s cost-saving utility management program, can contact energysolutions@linklogistics.com.
Program Background
Link Logistics continues to evolve its energy management offerings through Energy Solutions, the firm’s first-of-its-kind program designed to solve common challenges such as costly security deposits, misapplied rates, billing errors and lack of visibility into utility data—issues that can create financial and operational risk for both Link Logistics and its customers.
Energy Solutions encourages customers to transfer utility accounts to Link Logistics, which enables the firm to more closely manage their energy as a service. Utility cost and consumption data from all service types is then integrated into Link+, the firm’s customer portal, where it is displayed in a single, user-friendly dashboard.
Link Logistics utility specialists understand the rate structures and billing logic of the approximately 600 utilities that serve the firm’s customers across the U.S. This combination of scale, data insights and specialized utility knowledge can help customers avoid costs and improve bottom-line performance.
Placeholder
The outcome: By streamlining energy and utilities management, Link Logistics lets businesses stay focused on operations.
Customer Opportunity
This case study examines how the Link Logistics Energy Management team helped three customers who enrolled in Energy Solutions avoid an average of 21% of their total annual utility costs through security deposit returns, electricity rate classifications and billing dispute resolutions.
As a national operator of last-mile industrial real estate, Link Logistics supports businesses of all sizes, from single-market operators to global supply chain leaders. Small and mid-sized businesses often see the most benefit from Energy Solutions because their time and resources can be refocused on core operations and growth rather than managing utility bills and energy consumption. In these cases, Link Logistics’ Energy Management team acts as an extension of the customer’s business, providing targeted expertise that helps identify savings opportunities and resolve utility issues that might otherwise be costly or require significant time or specialized knowledge to address.
Link Logistics stays focused on reducing customer costs from before move-in through the life of a lease. For most utility providers, a security deposit is contingent on good payment history and credit, often tying up one to three months’ worth of utility spend for extended periods. Through Energy Solutions, Link Logistics guarantees on-time payment and insulation from late fees. For customers who enroll in Energy Solutions upon move-in, Link Logistics pays for the utility security deposit on their behalf, freeing up capital to be reinvested in their businesses. For customers who enroll mid-lease, the firm works with utilities to return previously paid deposits. In this example, a customer who enrolled in Energy Solutions mid-lease received a significant deposit refund from its energy provider—capital that otherwise would have been inaccessible for the duration of its lease.
Link Logistics experts ensure each site is assigned the most cost-effective rate class based on load profile, demand level and usage type. Like many utilities, Southern California Edison (SCE) leverages multiple time-of-use rate plans that vary based on time of day, day of the week and season. After evaluating this SCE customer’s historical usage patterns, the team advocated for a shift in rate class that introduced time-related demand charges in exchange for lower energy charges, resulting in an estimated 18% annual utility expense reduction.
When anomalies appear in customer utility bills, they are easily identifiable via analytics within the Energy Solutions dashboard. Link Logistics’ Energy Management team can then engage with the utility company to resolve discrepancies and recover overcharges where feasible. The team’s expertise in navigating utilities’ unique procedures ensures that disputes and other issues are resolved efficiently, as was the case for this customer, for whom Link Logistics’ Energy Management team secured a rebate following a water leak. After noticing a significant jump in water usage on the customer’s Energy Solutions dashboard, the Energy Management team worked with the customer’s property manager to identify and fix the leak, then promptly provided evidence of the repair to the customer’s utility provider. This secured a $3,483 rebate and helped the customer avoid significant recurring excess costs: Had the Link Logistics team not noticed the uptick in water use, the customer could have faced bills of $7,000 a month—adding more than $72,000 in extra charges per year, a 480% increase over their typical spend.
These examples demonstrate how Link Logistics’ Energy Solutions program delivers measurable value across diverse customer profiles and facility types. By combining utility expertise, data visibility and proactive account management, the firm helps customers reduce costs, avoid operational disruptions and maintain focus on their core business—making energy management a strategic advantage.
Future installments of the Link Logistics Sustainability Case Study Series will explore topics including power procurement and LED retrofits.
