Source where generators sell.
- Bilateral generator contracts and structured products
- ISO-RTO settlement and scheduling coordination
- Capacity market participation and procurement
- Congestion and basis risk management
Home / Solutions / Direct Access
Direct Access.
Buy energy the way generators sell it.
Direct Access is how Pilot started in CAISO 25 years ago - now one of the longest-running independent wholesale-access operations in the U.S. We source wholesale, execute directly with generators and ISOs, and pass every component through at cost. The retail markup goes away. The hedge strategy stays yours.
Why it matters
Retail supply is structurally
expensive. And opaque.
Retail supply can be the right fit, but it comes with embedded margin - folded into the rate, blended with capacity and ancillary costs, and driven more by the supplier's portfolio-centric assumptions than by your specific load. For energy-intensive businesses, that markup adds up over time. That is why energy procurement is best understood as a spectrum: for many companies, a well-structured retail contract is the right answer, while for larger or more sophisticated loads, structured strategies can create more value. At the far end of that spectrum is Direct Access, which offers the greatest control and, when the load justifies it, the lowest real cost.
Failure mode 01
Top-down pricing hides what you pay for
Retail providers quote a single blended rate - supply, capacity, ancillaries, congestion, RPS, and margin all rolled in. You can't see each component, so you can't negotiate any of them.
Failure mode 02
Portfolio cross-subsidies you didn't agree to
Retail pricing is built across a supplier's entire customer book. Some loads subsidize others. If your profile is favorable, you're paying for someone else's. The accounting is invisible.
Failure mode 03
Contract rigidity vs. operational reality
Retail contracts are written around standard load profiles. Flat 24/7, seasonal, or growing operations get penalized for the deviation rather than rewarded for it.
Failure mode 04
The retail margin compounds
A 10-25% markup on a $25M+ bill is real capital. Year after year, it's the largest controllable cost no one has control over - because the structure is designed to hide it.
What we do
Six areas under one wholesale desk.
Pilot designs the strategy, owns the orchestration, and stays accountable for outcomes; where market structure requires it, vetted partners execute specific functions. The mechanism varies; the accountability doesn't.
Component by component, transparent.
- Cost build at the component level, every cycle
- Load-specific allocation - no portfolio cross-subsidy
- Monthly settlement reconciliation
- Variance analysis tied to specific cost drivers
All pass-throughs at cost.
- ISO, RPS, capacity, congestion costs passed through at cost
- Delivery-to-meter outsourced at fixed disclosed rate
- Pilot compensation disclosed and structurally independent
- Annual fee reconciliation with full audit trail
Contracts written for you, not a portfolio.
- Direct contracts with generators and ISOs
- Terms structured to your load profile, not a template
- Renewable, capacity, delivery agreements negotiated separately
- Annual contract review and re-optimization
The layer between you and the grid.
- Day-ahead and real-time scheduling into ISO markets
- Imbalance management and settlement reconciliation
- Distributed generator dispatch (solar, storage, CHP)
- Registration, compliance, and participation support
What wholesale participation requires.
- RPS compliance: REC tracking, retirement, reporting
- Capacity market filings per ISO
- Clean-energy procurement reporting per state
- FERC Electric Quarterly Report (EQR) preparation and filing
The receipt
A 10-site aerospace & defense portfolio, moved from a retail contract to Direct Access - built and run by Pilot.
Read the case study →$3.1Msaved a year · ~8% of spend
Right for
Who Direct Access is built for.
Wholesale access pays back across a specific profile. Below the threshold, the complexity outweighs the savings; above it, the math compounds quickly. Pilot will tell you honestly whether you're a fit.
$25M+ annual energy spend
The threshold where markup elimination produces meaningful absolute dollars. Lower spend can still benefit, but the operational lift usually isn't justified.
Energy-intensive or 24/7 operations
Flat, continuous load profiles capture the most wholesale arbitrage - data centers, manufacturers, food processing, grocery, logistics.
Competitive markets, tight margins
When energy is a top-3 controllable cost, the retail markup is a direct hit to margin. Direct Access turns it into a controllable variable.
Capital-light preference
Cost reduction without new assets, infrastructure, or balance-sheet impact. The savings come from contract structure, not investment.
Energy-market familiarity - or willingness
The most sophisticated solution Pilot runs. Pilot operates the desk; the buyer stays informed. Clients who get the most out of it understand wholesale concepts, or are open to learning them.
Below $25M spend?
Procurement & Risk covers retail-supply optimization across the same markets - without the Direct Access threshold.
What lands in your inbox
What you get.
Every engagement produces the same structural artifacts. Specifics depend on the markets, the load profile, and the chosen contract structures.
Wholesale strategy document
Assessment of load profile, market structure, and recommended counterparty architecture. The blueprint Pilot executes against.
Counterparty contract execution
Direct agreements with generators, ISOs, and service providers - negotiated, executed, and managed by Pilot, each structured to your load.
Monthly settlement reconciliation
Every charge from every counterparty reconciled against contract terms and ISO settlements, with a component-level cost build.
Cost allocation reporting
Component-level allocation per site and business unit - for P&L attribution, tenant chargebacks, and operational decisions.
Scenario analysis & posture updates
Quarterly review of market structure, regulatory change, and forward-curve positioning. Strategic posture adjusted as conditions evolve.
PowerUp dashboard access
Real-time visibility into every settlement, counterparty position, and component charge - the same dashboard Pilot's desk operates from.
Regulatory & market briefings
ISO docket changes, capacity market shifts, RPS evolution, FERC orders. Wholesale markets move constantly; the briefings keep your team current.
Run turnkey, or co-managed
Pilot operates the full wholesale desk, or supports your internal team's strategy with execution and settlement. One point of accountability, every market. Solutions →
What goes with this
Related solutions.
Direct Access is the most integrated solution Pilot runs. With the wholesale desk in place, the others plug straight in.
Solution 03
Utility Invoice Verification
Even with Direct Access, delivery and ancillary charges still pass through utility billing. Verification ensures every pass-through is at the documented cost.
Invoice verification →Solution 04
Load Management
Capacity tags, DR, and BTM strategy all execute against wholesale market signals. Direct Access makes the demand-side strategy more powerful.
Load management →Solution 05
Decarbonization
Corporate PPAs settle wholesale. When the wholesale architecture exists, PPA structuring becomes a natural extension of procurement.
Decarbonization →Want a wholesale fit assessment?
30 minutes. Tell us your markets, your annual spend, and your load profile - we'll tell you honestly whether Direct Access would deliver meaningful savings, and if not, what would.