Enquirer Consulting Group

Power Buyer Map

Dustin Markowski | Power | October 2026

As of 12 Oct 2026

Power brings on-site solar, storage, backup power, efficiency and demand work, financing and carbon reporting to energy-heavy facilities as one team.

This map lays out the groups of organizations those buyers sit in, how large each group is where a clean public count exists, and who usually signs off inside each one.

The groups follow the industries Power names on its own site, from data centers, cold storage and manufacturing to commercial real estate and state, local and education facilities.

Where the buyers sit

Counts are firms, not sites, and are banded on purpose. A group with no clean public count says so rather than showing a number.

Group	Organizations in the US	Under 20 staff	20 to 99	100 to 499	500 or more
Data center, hosting and colocation operators	about 11,000	about 8,900	about 1,300	about 650	about 570
Refrigerated warehousing and cold storage operators	about 680	about 380	about 180	about 66	about 62
Manufacturers running their own plants	about 240,000	not published	not published	not published	not published
Owners and managers of commercial buildings	about 47,000	about 44,000	about 2,300	about 650	about 360
State, local, education and public agencies	no clean public count
Other commercial sites in retail, agriculture, hospitality, finance and houses of worship	no clean public count

US firm counts by industry code, banded deliberately.

Who usually signs off, by group

Titles vary by organization size. In smaller firms one owner or general manager holds most of these seats.

Group	Who usually signs off	Who also weighs in
Data center operators	VP of critical facilities or data center operations, with the CFO on financed projects	Site selection and development leads, energy procurement, sustainability
Cold storage operators	VP of operations or COO, with the CFO	Director of engineering, refrigeration and facilities managers, the property owner where the building is leased
Manufacturers	Plant manager or VP of operations, with the CFO or controller	Facilities and maintenance engineering, EHS and sustainability, procurement
Commercial building owners	Asset manager or head of asset management at the owner, fund or REIT	Property managers, sustainability leads, investor relations
Public agencies and schools	Finance director or business officer, then the board or council vote	Facilities director, procurement officer, superintendent or city and county manager
Other commercial sites	Owner or general manager	Outside bookkeeper or finance lead, facilities lead at multi-site groups

What each group is weighing

Group	What moves the decision
Data center operators	Capacity they can power ahead of a long grid queue, uptime for critical load, and round-the-clock clean energy goals
Cold storage operators	Energy as the largest operating line, demand charges from refrigeration, and protecting inventory through outages
Manufacturers	Downtime, demand charges and power quality, plus the emissions reporting their own customers now ask for
Commercial building owners	Operating cost that flows to NOI and asset value, building emissions caps, and tenant retention
Public agencies and schools	Aging buildings on tight budgets, no new capital ask, and keeping critical facilities online

How the decision usually runs

In private firms the operating lead who owns the facility usually raises the project, and finance approves it once the savings and the financing structure are clear. Owned, leased and power purchase structures each change who holds the final yes.

In the public sector the facilities and finance directors shape the project, the procurement officer picks the path to award, and a board or council approves it. A savings-funded contract or a pre-competed cooperative contract shortens that path.

Where to start

Lead with the forecast where energy is the biggest line

Cold storage operators and manufacturers already treat energy as a top cost. Offering the twelve-month energy cost forecast to the operations lead and the CFO together puts the number in front of both people who sign.

Meet building owners at their compliance deadlines

Owners in cities with building emissions caps face fixed compliance periods. Asset managers with exposure there have a dated reason to act, and a roadmap that clears the cap speaks to the value of the building as well as the bill.

Open public work through the funding model

Finance and facilities directors at districts, cities and counties hear many energy pitches. Opening with a savings-funded contract, cooperative purchasing and direct-pay incentives answers the budget and procurement questions before they are asked.

Built from public federal registries and the company's own website, counts banded deliberately.

If a walk-through is useful, pick a time at cal.com/ecg.

Prepared by Ben Beattie, ben@enquirerconsulting.com.