WBOC-TV 16 has become known in its broadcasting region as "Delmarva's News Leader." WBOC is an affiliate of CBS and a member of the National Association of Broadcasters. Serving portions of Maryland, Delaware and Virginia, WBOC reaches just under 500,000 viewers each day, and thousands of additional visitors to the region’s many resort, vacation, historical and educational destinations in numbers that swell to several hundred thousand during the summer months at the area’s beaches.

WBOC’s station Engineer, Dan Panichella, learned about APPI and its energy consulting services through NAB, who recently endorsed APPI as its exclusive energy consulting partner. He first interacted with APPI when Maryland electricity deregulation began several years ago.

“This member benefit allowed us to educate ourselves and learn how deregulation can benefit our station by making more informed business decisions,” said Panichella. “The process was very simple to understand and APPI was there to guide us through every step of the way. APPI’s team of energy experts, tariff analyst, regulatory specialists, consultants and customer service were efficient in helping us make timely informed decisions. Because APPI has the appropriate personnel on staff the time commitment on our part was minimal.”

To begin the consulting process with APPI, WBOC-TV provided copies of its electricity bills and an authorization to obtain WBOC’s electricity usage and account information from the local utility, Delmarva Power.

“In short order, APPI was back to us with competitive electricity prices from suppliers, an analysis of our costs, and sample contracts from many suppliers that APPI accessed and made compete for WBOC-TV’s electricity business,” said Panichella. “APPI provided several choices that fit our needs for us to consider. There were many pricing options and various contract structures, all of which APPI explained clearly.”

On August 26, 2008, WBOC began to broadcast high-definition newscasts from its newly constructed NewsPlex, an 11,340 square-foot state-of-the-art high definition digital broadcast facility.

“Once again APPI was instrumental in fine-tuning the details in an electricity supplier contract that fit the station’s new requirements. Our new facility required electrical work to be done by our utility, which had to be completed before the end of the contract period from the supplier. The electrical work was not finished concurrently with our contract end date and APPI was able to negotiate short term contracts on our behalf to cover that period. The transition to digital had its unique set of challenges, and I was at peace knowing electricity procurement was being managed by the experts, which was one less thing to worry about,” stated Panichella.

When it was time to renew our supply contracts and investigate the current market, “it was an easy decision to once again work with APPI. The transitions we have made to the competitive suppliers have been seamless, and APPI continues to keep us abreast of market conditions and opportunities. I recommend APPI’s energy consulting services to all NAB members,” said Panichella.

For more information on APPI, visit www.nab.org.