Green electricity utility appoints Gentrack as partner

16 April 2014

Green electricity utility appoints Gentrack as software partner

Gentrack, a global provider of specialist software solutions for energy utilities, water companies and airports, has made further inroads into the UK market by winning LoCO2 Energy as its newest customer, an independent and innovative low-carbon electricity supplier in the UK..

LoCO2 will use GentrackNOW, an off the shelf version of Gentrack Velocity, a specialist customised billing and customer relations management (CRM) system used by utilities in Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and the UK.

The contract with LoCO2 comes less than a month after Gentrack signed Bristol Airport for its Airport 20/20 operational management system.

In the last 12 months Gentrack has lifted its presence in the UK. It has signed Sembcorp (Bournemouth Water) as a customer and added Birmingham and Newcastle Airports to the list of Airport 20/20 customers which includes London City and Leeds/Bradford as well Hong Kong, T1 at JFK International, Newark, Sydney, Melbourne, Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch.

These recent successes have reinforced the strength of Gentrack’s international profile and have helped to win the Company’s place as a candidate for this year’s Westpac Auckland Exporter of the Year Awards. The Award winner will be in announced in June.

LoCO2 is the fourth innovative energy company in the electricity sector in the UK that has chosen Gentrack as its software billing and CRM partner. Ovo New Energy, Insite Energy and Flow Energy also use GentrackNOW. Ovo New Energy is one of the fastest growing electricity suppliers in the UK having signed up more than 250,000 customers over the past five years.

The growth of the UK market has prompted Gentrack to double its presence there with an office of 20 in London and the ability to expand further to meet customer demand.

Gentrack Chief Executive Officer James Docking says restructuring utility markets provide attractive opportunities for its Gentrack Velocity and GentrackNOW software solutions.

“Restructuring obliges utilities to move from regarding customers as a number or property, to managing and engaging with customers based on their individual preferences. Our systems were created in New Zealand’s deregulating energy environment to support this new business model, As other countries catch-up with energy and water reforms, Gentrack is clearly well positioned as a competitive software solutions provider for these markets.

“Gentrack has also built a reputation for ongoing accountability for the end-to-end supply chain, and the elimination of risks and costs that are often associated with third party consultants and system integrators. This makes for very satisfied customers.”

The three month LoCO2 project includes the implementation of a specialist utility billing solution and an integrated web portal to support LoCO2 Energy’s self-service strategy. LoCO2 is part of a group that generates, distributes and sells energy to domestic and business customers in the UK. With its sister business, TLS Hydro, the company operates nine hydropower stations in Scotland and England which generate the green energy sold to customers.

Dr Bob Middleton, managing director of LoCO2, said: “The investment in new, fully-integrated customer relationship management and billing software is another example of LoCO2’s commitment to delivering an excellent customer experience.

“Being able to provide web-based billing and to keep customers up-to-date with accurate information will help the company as it continues to provide high customer service standards.

“LoCO2 is very much looking forward to working with Gentrack over the next year in what will be a very productive relationship. Their expertise and experience in delivering these systems to tight timescales is extremely valuable.”

The company selected Gentrack’s ‘GentrackNOW’ software which delivers off-the-shelf billing, customer management and payment collections capabilities for small and start up utilities. The software ensures that energy retail companies can quickly and effectively bill and manage their customers, utilising proven utility workflows and billing processes to grow and service their customer base.

David Brown, vice president for Europe at Gentrack, said that the latest contract win was a result of Gentrack’s continual investment in the UK, value based positioning and reputation for delivery.

“Gentrack has invested considerably in designing software products for energy companies like LoCO2 who have an immediate requirement for a robust and proven billing and CRM solution – but they don’t necessarily have the budget or the need for deploying large ERP solutions.

“We’ve spent 25 years designing and implementing a set of smart billing and CRM tools needed to enable modern utilities to engage with customers in new ways. GentrackNOW will enable LoCO2 to treat customers as individuals rather than simply as a property or an account, and it will ensure that LoCO2 can continue to offer a high standard of customer service and accurate bills for customers.”

ENDS

Auckland-based Gentrack is a developer of specialist software for energy utilities, water companies and airports around the world. It employs 180 people in offices in Auckland, Melbourne and London and services more than 150 utility and airport sites in 20 countries.

Gentrack is comprised of two leading software products - Gentrack Velocity and Airport 20/20. Gentrack Velocity is a specialist billing and CRM product designed for Energy utilities and Water companies. Airport 20/20 is a comprehensive Airport Management System engineered to optimise an airport’s operations and enhance the passenger experience.

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