Utility Week

26 | 18TH - 24TH OCTOBER 2019 | UTILITY WEEK Customers Renewable energy supplier Good Energy has struck a deal with a subsidiary of Octopus Energy to use its proprietary Kraken customer service and billing soware from 2020. The transaction is forecast to be worth £4 million and covers an initial three-year implementa- tion and transition agreement and service contract. It marks the first time Octopus' Kraken ENERGY Good Energy to be first UK rival to adopt Octopus' Kraken platform platform has been adopted by a rival supplier in the UK. Good Energy said it expects to recoup the additional expend- iture through lower operating costs "within 18 months". The Wiltshire-based company said it has seen its customer volume grow by three-quarters in the past two financial years and its feed-in tariff generator customer base by 13 per cent over the same period. It added the investment in Kraken reflects this and will provide "significant scalability and flexibility". The Kraken platform is built to handle large data volumes and will support Good Energy's rollout of future smart products and services. Juliet Davenport, chief execu- tive and founder of Good Energy, said: "Now the agreement is This week Council's £18m nets it 50% stake in Together Warrington Borough Council deal will see a new board of directors created for Together Energy Together Energy has confirmed a £18 million investment from Warrington Borough Council, which includes a 50 per cent stake in the business. As a result of the deal, a new board of directors will be created for Together Energy, alongside an immediate 30 new jobs in the Cheshire town and new jobs in Clydebank. Earlier this year, the council announced plans to become the first local authority in the UK to generate its own renewable electricity following investment in two new solar farms in York and Hull. Paul Richards, founder and chief executive of Together Energy, said: "The team at Warrington Borough Council is both visionary and ambitious in its approach to sustainable energy and helping to futureproof commu- nity services through its carefully planned investments. "This vision is shared by all of us within Together Energy, where our approach to our values and staff has been significantly unique within the industry and we are extremely proud of what we have already achieved in just three years in business. "Our combined strength will take us to the next level in our growth and deliver our ambitious plans to change the traditional energy model." Warrington Borough Council leader councillor Russ Bowden said: "This is an investment that we've given careful consideration to over many months, but I'm pleased we've been able to agree a deal which will bring real benefits to the people of Warrington. "It's a good fit between a council which strives to put its residents at the heart of everything it does, and a company committed to helping our town prosper." AJ ENERGY Only 44% of Co-op customers pledge to stay with Octopus Octopus Energy chief executive Greg Jackson has talked about the challenges of integrating the 300,000 customers the company acquired from Co-op Energy in August. Speaking at Utility Week Congress last week, Jackson said that four customer books had already been migrated onto its Kraken billing and customer service soware, with a further three to be completed before the end of the year. In a "show of complete transparency", the company has this month sent letters to Co-op customers asking them about their intentions. Jackson said: "We sent them a form giving them various options – such as are you going to stay with Octopus, are you going to shop around, are you going to stay to see if we deliver reasonable value. Only 44 per cent said they will definitely stay, so we have to work hard to retain the rest." The huge loyalty towards the Co-op brand was always going to make the transition a challenge, Jackson admitted. "Co-op has a great brand her- itage and it's really embedded in the UK psyche. If you look at the data from price comparison sites, even if there's no price saving, people will choose Co-op over other brands because of how close it is to people's hearts." With several big deals or mergers going through, includ- ing Ovo's acquisition of SSE's retail arm, it shows the "impor- tance of big book migrations", Jackson said. "Perhaps the next stage of the evolution of the UK energy market is for companies to learn how to consolidate rapidly and not create legacy problems of the future." ENERGY BES Group to take on former Eversmart employees BES Group has announced its intentions to expand into Man- chester and offer former employ- ees of failed supplier Eversmart Energy new jobs. The group, which comprises BES Utilities and BES Metering Services, is based in Fleet- wood, Lancashire and will offer employment to around 30 former Eversmart employees. The new team members will provide sup- port to BES Metering Services. Andy Pilley, co-owner and director of BES, said: "When we heard the sad news about Eversmart, we wanted to do all we could to help those who had lost their jobs, so we immediately made contact and quickly arranged interviews. I'm delighted we have been able to offer roles to the majority of staff. "Thanks to our new metering division, we can now provide an end-to-end service to our customers without having to rely so heavily on external agents." Richards: deal 'will take us to the next level' signed, the next step is a process of data migration and customer experience mapping, with the ambition that we start transfer- ring customers in the new year." Greg Jackson, chief executive of Octopus Energy Group, said: "This will be the first UK-based application of the Kraken plat- form outside of Octopus Energy, and we expect to see this shake the rest of the industry."

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