ENGIE Impact Helps Amtrak Manage Its $150M Energy Spend

Amtrak operates the US national passenger railroad system, responsible for transporting more than 31 million passengers per year to more than 500 destinations across 46 states. With that responsibility comes an energy expenditure of more than $150 million annually: energy used to power more than 300 trains and 1,000 sites. About one third of that total is spend on what Amtrak terms “non-traction utilities” or the power used to operate everything except its electric powered trains. Data Fuels Success Amtrak and ENGIE Impact have partnered for expense and data management across Amtrak’s portfolio since 2007. Central to the success of the partnership is the data captured through ENGIE Impact’s management of Amtrak’s utility bills and the online reporting platform that contains detailed reports and usage metrics. The partnership has since evolved to use this cost and consumption data to support a portion of Amtrak’s energy spend. Bob Jones and Larry Beddis are the men responsible for managing Amtrak’s energy budget wisely. Jones is Senior Director of Utilities Management at Amtrak, while Beddis serves as Principal Officer of Utilities Management. Both are well versed in the complexities and dynamics of the energy markets, but at the end of the day, Jones says the technical details, staff, and tools to sufficiently perform the necessary evaluations that go into energy procurement and contract management are not available at Amtrak.