This week on the Strategy Lab blog we have been spending a lot of time focusing on strategies for Utilities and specifically the Distribution & Retail Subsector of the industry. Today's blog post deals with the changing needs of the Commercial & Industrial segment and how Utilities can respond from a competitive perspective. Competition can be fierce and the ability for an energy retailer to be agile, creative and flexible is essential in accelerating the acquisition of Commercial & Industrial accounts.
In today's environment the ability to acquire and implement new commercial and industrial customers requires flexibility in its billing and pricing options. Yet the standard CIS often cannot react to change quickly enough.
Can your complex billing infrastucture handle the following?
- Propose, execute and manage Commercial & Industrial contracts including Time of Use, Load Profiling, Contract Price (interval & non-interval pricing) and usage variance charges
- Track usage transactions in real time
- Implement rate increases ahead of time
- Present complex billing calculations on an invoice
- Ability to conduct a settlement process
- Functionality to group multiple locations in one contract - e.g. a chain of restaurants
- Include renewable energy products as a percentage into the product mis - e.g. client requests a mix of 50% renewable energy & 50% nuclear
Treat the above as a checklist of just a few of the elements that your Commercial & Industrial customers may demand when you are trying to compete for their energy business.
If your interested in learning more on Complex Billing join us at CS Week May 29 - 22 in Washington, DC @ booth 626