Case Study
Tallgrass Switched From Spreadsheets to Molecule and Scaled Their Trading Operations
Replacing spreadsheets with Molecule gave Tallgrass trading operations the scalability, reliability, and support it needed to confidently handle the complex natural gas markets and meet its business goals.
In This Story
About Tallgrass
Tallgrass is a leading energy infrastructure company focused on safely, reliably, and sustainably delivering the energy and services that fuel homes and businesses and enable our nation’s quality of life. Across the broader U.S., Tallgrass has more than 1,200 team members who operate over 10,000 miles of infrastructure that stretches from Ohio to Oregon and North Dakota down to South Texas. Learn more at Tallgrass.com.
Industry: Oil & Energy
Headquartered: Midwestern US
What They Use: Molecule
“Molecule just gives back so much time. That time then gets directed to things that help grow our business instead of just get through the day.”
- Jim Luft, Senior Director of Trading and Credit Risk
From Spreadsheets to a Reliable Deal Capture System
Like many mid-sized companies, Tallgrass was still using spreadsheets for trade management. However, as trading volumes increased, Tallgrass’s workflow became more time-consuming and prone to errors.
"Spreadsheets worked… until it didn’t," Jim Luft, Senior Director of Trading and Credit Risk at Tallgrass, said. "As the team grew, managing multiple people working in one workbook became a challenge we weren’t overcoming successfully."
Jim and his team needed a scalable, user-friendly system that could support their specific trading requirements and stay within their budget. Molecule provided them a modern ETRM solution that can easily handle their complex trading functions. “With Molecule, we got the right fit — without the complexity and cost of larger systems,” Jim shared.
How Molecule Helped Tallgrass Implement a Powerful ETRM System With “Uncanny Reliability”
Working with Molecule gave Tallgrass the flexibility to customize the features they needed across hundreds of products and focus on the enhancements they value most:
Automated deal capture significantly cut down on Tallgrass’s manual entry workload, reducing errors, creating a traceable audit trail for every transaction, and saving hours each week.
Reliable ICE integration provided a seamless flow of trades directly from the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) platform. “In the year and a half that we’ve been using Molecule’s ICE adapter, there was one 60-minute period where my ICE deals didn’t flow in. Other than that, it’s been a complete success — uncanny reliability,” Jim shared.
Real-time position reporting empowered Jim’s team to monitor risk more proactively, perform better commercially and operationally, and save time. “Position reporting in spreadsheets was something that was an end-of-day activity for me,” Jim said. “Position reporting now is something we’re refreshing every five to ten minutes and viewing in real-time.”
No IT overhead freed up Jim and his team to focus on their operational strengths and business goals. “The value proposition of Molecule is that they handle all the client-side IT—no forced upgrades, no need for dedicated IT personnel on our side. That’s something that moved the budget needle,” Jim shared.
Specialized park and loan functionality helped Tallgrass manage seasonal gas spreads, take advantage of low summer prices, and better align their trading with FERC regulations.
Outstanding customer service ensured quick and hassle-free resolution of any issues to keep Jim and his team working at their best. “The immediate problems have always been resolved very quickly,” Jim noted. “This is in stark contrast to the customer service model of larger competitors.”
“The thing I love about working with Molecule is that it’s the only ETRM where I feel like we’re teammates. We’re on the same side, trying to make the product work for us.”
Reliable Performance for Operational Growth
Automating time-consuming manual tasks and simplifying processes lets you focus more on high-value activities and less on the daily grind. With real-time insights, unmatched reliability, and an easy-to-use interface, Molecule helps leading energy trading companies unlock their true growth potential.
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