The winner of this year’s Supplier of the Year Award from the Florida and Alabama RV Park and Campground Association is Wild Energy, a Sarasota-based company that is helping park operators improve their bottom line by submetering their electricity.
“We were surprised but pleased to receive this award. We didn’t know it was coming,” said Mike Sorensen, president and CEO of Wild Energy, which has grown its customer base from 10 campgrounds and RV parks in 2021 to hundreds of parks today.
“Business couldn’t be better,” Sorensen said. “We’re selling customers every single day and our footprint keeps getting bigger and bigger.”
Wild Energy provides technology and software that enable private park operators to submeter their electric and water utilities and charge guests for their consumption. Sorensen said it’s difficult for park operators to guess how much electricity their guests will consume and build that cost into their rates because people have different power consumption habits. Campsite fees that anticipate electricity consumption can be unfair to campers who conserve, while letting energy hogs off the hook.
Moreover, Sorensen said, parks with electricity costs built into their rate structures tend to pay too much for electricity, he said, because their guests have no incentive to conserve. But when campground and RV park guests are told they will have to pay for their own electricity consumption, most guests will use more discretion with their power consumption.
“When we take a park with no meters and put in meters, their energy consumption drops by 30%,” Sorensen said.
Wild Energy often installs meters to enable parks to submeter their power. The return on investment is fast because of the savings that result from reduced power consumption.
“Submetering improves their net operating income and ultimately provides the park with more capital,” Sorensen said, adding that parks that submeter their power command higher prices from investors.
Submetering is especially important given the growing power consumption needs of big rigs, electric vehicles and golf carts. Submetering can also help parks extend the longevity of their electrical infrastructure by detecting outages and other issues.
About the Florida RV Park and Campground Association
Information about the latest trends involving campgrounds, RV parks and resorts is available from the Florida RV Park and Campground Association, which markets privately owned and operated parks in Florida through CampFlorida.com, the travel planning website. The association also publishes a free printed camping guide, which can be ordered through CampFlorida.com.
About Wild Energy
Wild Energy provides wireless sub-metering technology and utility monitoring software that help businesses streamline operations, improve utility revenue collection, reduce overall utility use, and provide a sustainable energy management solution for RV resorts, campgrounds, marinas, and residential communities. Since 2019, organizations across North America that have implemented Wild Energy energy management solutions that have contributed to a total reduction of over 7 million pounds of CO2 from entering the atmosphere. To learn more about Wild Energy, visit wildenergyco.com
