Simply Energy

2015
Lowering barriers to entry through innovation

Simply Energy’s technical and commercial innovation is enabling a range of firms to bring new offers into the electricity market.

The company’s approach challenges the assumption that electricity generation and retailing requires size and fixed assets to be successful.

In the last past 12 months Simply Energy has launched SPC, a cloud-based, retail application. It combines switching, reconciliation and billing infrastructure with ICP code compliance, specialist services and reporting on a single platform.

The suite of systems and resources allows independent generators and other new entrants access to support from a NZ Electricity Market compliant business without the cost of establishing their own infrastructure and retail team.

SPC streamlines client support and reporting for its users. Many of the processes are automated and now available in real time.

Simply Energy developed its own platform because utility IT services at the time were standard tariff billing systems. These off the shelf systems were cumbersome, expensive and would not meet the varied needs of the company or its clients.

Simply Energy provides systems and services for a range of businesses, including industrial energy users, independent generators as well as non-electricity utilities. The company enables these organisations to enter the wholesale and retail energy markets faster and with less capital.

Simply was hired by Cold Storage Nelson to cut the storage logistics provider’s costs. Cold Storage became the first non Transpower-connected consumer to purchase electricity directly from New Zealand’s wholesale spot market. Simply Energy’s model also resulted in $250,000 worth of savings per annum.

Typically it takes new retailer between 12 and 24 months to be able to supply electricity in a code-compliant format. Simply Energy can now provide systems within two to four weeks using SPC.  

The company says the attractiveness of its model is reflected in the 180 per cent increase in revenue it reported during the past year, the 150 per cent growth expected in the upcoming year and four appearances on the Deloitte Fast50 list.

Simply offers transparent pricing on a fee-for-services basis. Its modular platform means each client can choose from a range of solutions ranging from specialist compliance advisory services to project management of field services.

The last year also saw the company take a major shareholding in YouDo Energy Services to position DataHub as a standalone product. DataHub, one of the company’s products, manages end-to-end meter data, estimations, customer profiling, registry interface and compliance reporting. All this is done through a single, automated system.

The company estimates DataHub will reduce its overall workload by six to eight days a month in meter data management and network reporting alone.

Simply Energy introduces and improves processes by regular testing. Its style of process development allows new solutions to be introduced quickly and reflects the company’s core proposition to lower barriers and enable innovation.

The Innovation in Energy award category is sponsored by Gentrack