In October of last year, the Rocky Mountain Institute published a blog post called “Parking Apps: 6 Lessons for Retail Electricity Pricing”. There were a number of points that resonated with us– no matter the inspiration for the insights. The author writes:

Retail electricity pricing is similarly poised to undergo an evolution in the near future. As utilities, regulators, third-party technology providers, and others think about what evolved electricity pricing might look like, it’s worth considering at least six lessons they can learn from parking apps.

These lessons are:

1. CONSUMERS WANT MORE INFO, NOT LESS

2. THAT INFORMATION FALLS INTO THREE LOGICAL CATEGORIES
When, Where and What

3. CUSTOMIZED OPTIONS, YES, BUT NOT UNNECESSARY COMPLEXITY

4. MORE SOPHISTICATED PRICING CAN YIELD SYSTEM BENEFITS

5. BUT ACCESSING THOSE OPPORTUNITIES WILL REQUIRE ADVANCED INFRASTRUCTURE AND STANDARDIZED, TRANSPARENT DATA

6. CENTRALIZED INCUMBENTS MAY RESIST, BUT PROGRESSIVE STAKEHOLDERS WILL MOVE

While the author is referring to residential consumers here, all of these same lessons apply to large institutions, colleges, universities, hospitals, the hospitality industry and a host of other purchasers.

Let’s look at a few examples of the impact of a couple of these lessons learned on larger purchasers of energy.

CONSUMERS WANT MORE INFO, NOT LESS.

Large purchasers of energy have never had a chance to quickly access their own usage and cost data. It is impossible to make informed decisions about purchasing, cost management, or even energy investment without a reliable cost and usage forecast. One of our clients learned that their supplier had sold the institution more power than their needs required. They learned this only because they had access to a straight forward forecasts of their cost and usage. That’s the kind of information that all consumers need.

CUSTOMIZED OPTIONS, YES, BUT NOT UNNECESSARY COMPLEXITY

Energy industry players tend to focus on the complexity of energy information and markets. There is no need to over-complicate energy markets. Consumers, large and small, have a right to access their own data and to use that information in ways that make decision making simpler. Consumers are growing weary of the opacity of information flows in the energy industry.

BUT ACCESSING THOSE OPPORTUNITIES WILL REQUIRE ADVANCED INFRASTRUCTURE AND STANDARDIZED, TRANSPARENT DATA

Retail markets for power and gas have been open to competition since the mid- to -late 1990s. It is time for data and information to catch up to the marketplace.

Bottom line for businesses: New products and services will flow from more open and transparent information protocols. All consumers will benefit from this transition.