Almost five months after Procter & Gamble (P&G)announced it intended to use EnergyGateway.com’s natural gasmarketplace to acquire gas supply for all of its manufacturingfacilities in the United States and Canada, the branded companylabeled its online experience a success.

“EnergyGateway.com provides an efficient e-commerce platform forProcter & Gamble to conduct our energy purchasing,” saidMichele Kidd, North American energy purchasing group manager.”EnergyGateway.com brings together a large number of buyers andsellers providing a competitive market environment that hasdelivered significant savings for Procter & Gamble.”

The exchange, which went live in September of 1999 and fired up itsnatural gas marketplace in November of 1999, lays claim to being thebiggest and best transaction site for industrial energy customers,utilities and producers (see Daily GPI, June13). The online company serves what it calls transport consumers,which is comprised of industrial and large commercial customers.

The system allows a business to post its needs, then choose fromamong the bids it receives from suppliers. Fees are charged onlyon successful transactions, and suppliers can also sell to othersuppliers on this platform.

“By streamlining the procurement process online Procter &Gamble is reaping benefits in the form of true savings and thefreedom to focus on more strategic value-added duties,” said DanPugh, director of major accounts at EnergyGateway.com.”EnergyGateway staff also assist in the administration of thepurchasing effort, further freeing up time for Procter & Gamblepersonnel.”

EnergyGateway said P&G did over $100 million worth oftransactions on its system to satisfy its natural gas needs.

F. Daniel Ryan, EnergyGateway’s president and co-founder saidthat the electric marketplace has just recently started signingpeople on, but that the natural gas marketplace has “51 of thelargest natural gas suppliers in the country, and a number of themare already electricity providers. So we are transitioning theproviders over to the electricity marketplace, and adding ourconsumers to the electricity marketplace.” Ryan pointed out thatelectricity deregulation’s slow growth is limiting the areas hiselectricity platform can serve.

Procter & Gamble’s praise comes on the heels ofEnergyGateway’s October deal with Cargill Inc., an internationalmarketer, processor and distributor of agricultural, food,financial and industrial products and services. Initially, Cargillintends to spend $55 million in natural gas supplies onEnergyGateway.com, but in the future could extend its usage tocover the company’s $500 million natural gas and electricity needs.

“We selected EnergyGateway because it is the first company toblend proven energy transaction expertise with the ease,flexibility, convenience and control of e-commerce,” said J.F.Muse, a spokesman for Cargill.

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