New online platform for electricity retailers set to jolt energy market

New online platform for electricity retailers set to jolt energy market

From the second half of next year, domestic consumers here will be able to
compare electricity plans online and pick one that best suits their needs
from a website.

The recently launched Singapore start-up Electrify.Sg is the first
marketplace for electricity retailers here, allowing consumers to compare
the prices and packages on offer.

The portal is now available only to businesses and non-domestic consumers
using more than 2,000 kWh a month. So far, 15 companies have used it to buy
an electricity plan.

As the Government fully opens up the energy market in the second half of
next year, all consumers in Singapore - including all 1.3 million households
and more than 200,000 small business users - will be eligible to switch from
Singapore Power, the national electricity provider.

They will be able to buy electricity from third-party retailers regardless
of their minimum consumption.

Mr Martin Lim, 46, co-founder and chief operations officer of Electrify.Sg,
told a press conference yesterday: "For the first time, we are going to have
every household being able to choose the kind of power they want to buy, at
the rate they want to buy and, very much on their terms, how they want to
buy it."

Consumers can enjoy a 10 to 30 percent discount off Singapore Power's
regulated tariff with prices offered by retailers on the platform, he added.

To date, there are 25 licensed electricity retailers, but just 16 are
active.

Of the 16, eight - including Best Electricity Supply, Red Dot Power, and
Sunseap Energy - have joined Electrify.Sg.

It plans to get seven more retailers on its platform by the end of this
month.

Talking about some of the difficulties that consumers face, Mr Julius Tan,
28, co-founder and chief executive officer of Electrify.Sg, said: "With 25
retailers, including both independent retailers and power-generation
companies in the market, there is confusion over price plans and still some
misinformation and ambiguity about electricity liberation."

On top of that, many retailers operate in silos, forcing customers to make
multiple enquiries through many levels on Web pages to get generic prices.

Finalising a contract can also be a laborious exercise, with most retailers
still relying on manual submissions on paper, which can prolong the process
to days or weeks.

Electrify.Sg aims to shorten the process for consumers to five to 10 minutes
with just four steps.

First, consumers must provide basic information such as their electricity
provider, and their consumption levels.

Next, they have to create an account, then choose their preferred
electricity package generated by Fibonacci - a pricing engine - based on
their consumption profile.

Finally, they make payment online and upload the required documents.

Retailers can publish their raw pricing data and electricity package details
on the platform, which uses Fibonacci to generate more than a million price
permutations per electricity plan.

The platform also provides retailers with data-driven analytics on
customers' buying patterns, allowing them to deliver tailor-made plans to
each client, including bundled deals and electricity plans powered by
sustainable energy sources.

Noting that Singapore has "a very dynamic energy market space", Mr Lim said:
"We are not here to fight with anybody, we are here to work with everybody.

"With that, everybody can benefit - consumers as well as retailers."

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Link to Original Article:
http://www.todayonline.com/singapore/new-online-platform-electricity-retaile
rs-set-jolt-energy-market

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John Diecker
APT Consulting Group Co., Ltd.

www.aptthailand.com