A practical guide to contract structure, hedging and bill validation for manufacturers, covering how to start early, run a like-for-like RFQ and negotiate your terms before the market moves against you.
Part of the SmartBuyer Procurement Guide Series.
Energy is priced on wholesale markets that move every day. When the Strait of Hormuz closed in February 2026, cutting off around a fifth of global LNG trade, European gas prices rose sharply, and manufacturers out of contract or poorly hedged felt it first.
This guide shows you how to prepare early, choose between fixed, flexible and pass-through contracts, run a like-for-like RFQ, and set up the bill checks that catch errors in the part of your bill no hedge can touch.
If any of these describe you, this guide will earn back its 15 minutes.
Renewing on autopilot is the most expensive way to buy energy. Our specialists start early and treat it as risk management, and this guide turns that experience into a process you can follow on your own sites.
Written by a specialist with hands-on experience of buying energy for industrial users, not theory. They are part of a network of 500+ procurement specialists who buy these categories every day.
