Energy Pricing Service

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1.1.16 Energy Pricing Service:

1. Energy pricing is a bespoke application service optimised for use with a smart phone or tablet. The mission is to enter a few key facts and for the application to compare the market and provide a list of potential prices and costs.

2. Energy in this context is electricity and gas distributed services. Pricing is based on estimated annual consumption (EAQ) and supplier tariffs for each geographic region.

3. Where applicable, commercial CCL and VAT rates will be included.

4. Edition 1 includes electric day, night and gas consumption, but does not support weekend rates, seasonal rates or half hour metering. The bespoke application service includes unlimited continual improvements, so as the market evolves, the application evolves to exploit new business requirements.

2. Glossary of Terms:

"Supplier" means an Energy Provider billing company who has a wholesale contract with a regional energy distribution company.

"EAQ" means an Estimated Annual Consumption measured in KWH.

"EAC" means an Estimated Annual Cost to the customer, including applicable taxes, measured in Pounds with two decimal places.

"AMR" means Automated Meter Reading as a smart meter that has its own unique tariff rates.

"FIT" means Feed In Tariff as an overhead charge on every unit to cover government subsidies - add FIT to unit rate to get rate actually charged.

3. Parties:

1. The energy consultancy company that commissioned and use the bespoke application service is the owner and data controller. All data entered is owned by the person or company that entered the data. All networks, hardware and software used to access the bespoke application service is provided and owned by the owner. For privacy reasons, the name of a party will never be documented or disclosed in any way - everybody knows who they are.

2. The application service provider (ASP) owns a large number of servers in a large number of secure data centers that provide bespoke application service to a large number of diverse companies. The ASP does not write software and does not provide any application programs - the bespoke application service is available as an Internet service without any data stored on a local device. The ASP is the data processor who guarantees to encrypt all business data and to replicate that encrypted data to many secure data centers in a way so it cannot be stolen and cannot be lost. The bespoke application service is designed never to stop and cannot be stopped - downtime due to maintenance and patching has been eliminated. The ASP accepts and guarantees compliance with all technical and data protection regulations. The ASP provides the Owner with a Data Protection Officer (DPO) as part of the bespoke application service in accordance with Information Commissioners Office (ICO) requirements.

3. The bespoke application service is not a product and does not have a name or brand - it is owned by its energy consultancy company. The bespoke application service is an artificial intelligent assistant that is designed to learn and continually improve based on how it is used by its owner. The business rules specified by the owner dictate the scope of what the bespoke application service can do - the only limiting factor is the skill of the owner to teach their bespoke application service to do more. Many people do not like change and so the initial design may perpetuate until the owner chooses to specify what else is needed or wanted.

4. For any business to be sustainable and successful, it must be cost effective for all parties. The ASP will be paid for all development and roll-out costs by the LeXica Development Innovation Fund (LDIF) for as long as it takes for the business to become viable and approved people to become comfortable using the service. Eventually, a monthly subscription fee will be agreed; a months service is provided and payment is made for that month to confirm that the service is requested for the following month. Liabilities are reduced to the one months subscription fee so the owner may terminate at any time for any reason.

4. Application Outline:

1. The approved person with the customer may enter:-

(1) Customer Email as unique pricing identifier.

(2) Customer Postcode as distribution region.

(3) Electric Day EAQ as KWH.

(4) Electric Night EAQ as KWH or percent of total EAQ (optional).

(5) Gas EAQ as KWH (optional).

(6) Client Contact Details (optional).

(7) Client Address Details (optional).

(8) Meter Details (optional).

2. The bespoke application service will look up and use:-

(1) Supplier Company Name.

(2) Supplier Tariff Name.

(3) Region Code from Postcode or Meter Number.

(4) Electric Day Rate as pence per KWH.

(5) Electric Night Rate as pence per KWH.

(6) Gas Rate as pence per KWH.

(7) Electric standing charge as pence per day or pounds per quarter.

(8) Gas standing charge as pence per day or pounds per quarter.

3. A price quotation document is shown with:-

(1) Supplier Tariff Code.

(2) Electric Day Usage Charge.

(3) Electric Night Usage Charge.

(4) Electric Standing Charge.

(5) Electric Total Annual Cost.

(6) Gas Usage Charge.

(7) Gas Standing Charge.

(8) Gas Total Annual Cost.

(9) Total Annual Energy Cost.

4. Click a button to email the quotation to the customer showing:-

(1) Supplier Tariff Code.

(2) Electric Total Annual Cost.

(3) Gas Total Annual Cost.

(4) Total Annual Energy Cost.

5. Optional extra factors such as CCL and VAT may be included as applicable. Unusual data entry of weekend and off-peek consumption have been mentioned, but the instances of such factors remains to be analysed - complexity breads hard-to-use, but at least seven different consumptions are supported on one contract for one supply.

5. Application Considerations:

1. All rates and calculations use four-decimal places of a penny, rounded to the nearest penny when shown on a document. Standing charges may have a number of alternative units such as pence-per-day or pounds-per-quarter.

2. When a pricing document is emailed to a customer, that pricing record is frozen and cannot be changed. An existing pricing record may be cloned into a new pricing record that may be changed until it is emailed.

3. Every opportunity must be taken to minimise data entry and minimise data entry input errors - simplicity may be more effective than completeness. An option exists to enter meter numbers and address, but this is more data entry with questionable pricing benefits. Where a bespoke price is requested from a supplier, then the meter numbers and meter address are mandated.

Workforce Intelligence

4. Your bespoke application service provides the workforce with augmented intelligence shown by being able to instantly compare many supplier tariffs for a very specific customer requirement. The persons smart phone is just a powerful tool that knows the energy rates for different regions with varying consumptions from a large number of suppliers. That mountain of supplier rating information is distilled into a simple comparative annual price quotation - just what the customer wanted to know. People do business with people they trust and a professional with fingertip access to detailed applicable rating data will be trusted more than those who guess. The person with an artificial intelligent assistant will appear more intelligent and can be trusted more than the salesman with a folder full of obsolete rates.

Email Interface

5. Price comparison is worth a lot more when the smart phone can instantly email a copy of the relevant costs to the customer - the customer can print a copy and make a decision with the comparable prices in their hand. A smart phone is not an effective shared viewing platform, but when a pricing document is rapidly emailed to the customer, then the customer becomes more engaged and will find it easier to make a committment - a committment to comparable prices. Is the person asking if they can provide a quotation called a salesman while the person sharing comparative prices called a consultant?

6. Administration:

1. The scope of the pricing application is totally dependent on the management of supplier tariff data. Supplier tariff data is uploaded as spreadsheet CSV tables that conform to basic layout rules. A cut and paste facility will enable known supplier tariff tables to be imported with ease.

2. A longer term objective of a broker should be to become an independent energy supplier, buying on the wholesale market and selling just below retail prices. With retail monthly direct debits paid in advance, cash flow to wholesalers is paid for by advance retail revenues with no bank loans to bridge a gap.

3. The quality of the energy service is identical, no matter what the supplier is called, so price is the single buying factor where all the focus must be placed. Customer loyalty is meaningless, so each and every contract must be using rates that include the cost of doing business. Success may be measured in terms of providing an energy supplier service to customer with the guarantee of the best price - year-after-year.

4. When the supplier tariff data is provided, it can be tested and the whole application proven for its bespoke owner. The application has its foundations in a popup spreadsheet for each supplier tariff for all regions. Supplier tariff spreadsheet data may be uploaded as and when available for instant use.

5. A PDF photographic image does not contain any data and cannot be used to communicate supplier tariff data. A PDF text file can be saved as text that can be used to provide supplier tariff data. PDF is a container used to restrict access to data rather than to communicate business data. XLS is a container that may contain malware and that is why an XLS cannot be uploaded or used to communicate business data. CSV has been used for the last twenty years to communicate business data without the threat of malware.

7. Transactions:

1. Public Sign-In page: used once with one-time access code.

2. Personal Welcome Page: bookmarked as favourite.

3. List of Customer pricing records: for selection or new.

4. Pricing Entry Page: enter customer EAQ.

5. Pricing Document: compare charges and costs.

6. Pricing Email: proposed costs.

7. List of Supplier Tariff rates: for selection or new.

8. Supplier Tariff rate form: as selected.

9. Upload (or cut-and-paste) new tariff details.

10. List of What-Did-I-Do history.

8. Security:

1. Security and privacy are built-in and are treated as being more important than every other factor. Replicated Encrypted Data using blockchain technology is used to ensure that data cannot be stolen and cannot be lost.

2. Authentication means that approved people may use the bespoke application service, but criminals will be silently blacklisted. Continual 24*7 monitoring provides a guarantee that agencies and criminals cannot find the encrypted data that is replicated to a large number of safe data centers.

3. Edition 1 has one or two approved people who are each given a one-time access code that grants people access to their own personal welcome page that can be bookmarked. The bookmarked welcome page is protected with cookies and other authentication factors so the one-time password does not need to be used again.

4. The technology used is an artificial intelligent assistant (known as Eliza) that is driven by a knowledgebase of business rules provided by the application owner. For data sovereignty security reasons, no USA owned company is used to provide software or hardware. No Microsoft software is used. No Amazon, Microsoft or Google data center is used.

9. What does the owner do:

1. The energy consultancy owner simply specifies what they want and what they want will be provided. What the owner wants includes what they choose to pay. The owner deserves to get what they pay for - the price defines what the owner expects of their bespoke application service and how they treat their business.

2. What customer data is to be entered? Example needed.

3. What supplier data is to be referenced with what calculations? Samples needed.

4. What should the customer pricing quotation document look like? Example needed.

5. No limits exist. A large number of interns are available who would welcome the opportunity to demonstrate their AI knowledgebase skills on something more than classroom exercises. For training reasons, no one intern works on all parts of the bespoke application service and no intern needs to know the names of the parties involved. No software is involved, so no backdoors can be created and no intern will ever be aware of the production bespoke application service.

6. Support is an online facility where a significant factor is self-service support that is backed up with a support request to teach the bespoke application service a new skill. The owner does not need to provide a server, to do regular maintenance patches and be the subject of continual criminal attacks on that server.

10. What does the ASP do:

1. The Application Service Provider (ASP) designs, develops, demonstrates and deploys the owners bespoke application service with continual improvements.

2. The ASP chooses to deploy block-chain technology (as used by bit-coins) to deploy replicated encrypted business data because:-

(1) Replicated data is distributed to ten remote data centers so the data cannot be lost or corrupted.

(2) Encrypted data cannot be stolen because any copy is meaningless and worthless to a criminal or other agancy.

3. By deploying a large number of parallel data centers, in the event that one data center is not available, other data centers continue to provide the bespoke application service. The bespoke application service never stops and cannot be stopped - it is not feasible to imagine that ten distributed tier-4 data centers that provide the Internet backbone could all fail at the same time.

4. The ASP does not write programs and does not distribute or promote any software - all software has vulnerabilities and should be avoided. The ASP does train, advise and provide knowledge to the artificial intelligent assistant that is the bespoke application service. Any kind of desktop, laptop, tablet or smart phone may be used to communicate with the bespoke application service.

11. Business Data:

1. 02Man Customer Data

2. 02Man Meter Data

3. 02Man Contract Data

4. All business data is encrypted to ensure that the data cannot be stolen - all stored data is meaningless and worthless to a criminal.

5. All business data is replicated to ensure that the data cannot be lost - in the event that one data center is not available, business continues to be provided by other data centers.

6. It has been said that many different supplier tariff data exist but no evidence has been provided as examples for analysis. When evidence is provided, then a suitable design will be deployed.

12. Supplier Tariff Data:

1. Supplier name, address, contact and electronic contact details.

2. Tariff name, terms and conditions, payment-terms, start-date, exit fee, fixed or variable rates, fixed expiry date.

3. Electric, region, standing charge as pence per day. day unit rate as pence per KWH, night, weekend, weekday, Dec-Jan peak, Dec-Jan-off-peak, Nov-Feb peak, Nov-Feb-off-peak, Other.

4. Gas, region, standing charge as pence per day, unit rate as pence per KWH.

13. Taxation Data:

1. Taxation data is relatively stable but will change at any time where old and new tax rates must be able to be viewed for new and historic contracts.

2. Tax name, tax code, start-date, end-date, percentage-rate.

3. VAT Standard Rate, VS, 4 Jan 2011, 31 Dec 2044, 20.0000.

4. VAT Reduced Rate, VR, 4 Jan 2011, 31 Dec 2044, 5.0000 (energy, childrens car seats).

5. VAT Zero Rate, VZ, 4 Jan 2011, 31 Dec 2044, 0.0000.

6. VAT Exempt Rate, VE, 4 Jan 2011, 31 Dec 2044, 0.0000, (books, protective gear).

14. MPAN Region Data:

10. _A. Eastern England = UK Power Networks = AL1-10,CB1-11,CM0-24,CO1-16, E4,EN1-11,HA0-9,HP16-23,HP27,HP1-8,IP1-33,LU1-7, MK40-42,MK44-45,N17-18,N21-22,N2-4,N6,NR1-35,NW2,NW4,NW7,N9,N11,PE13-19, PE104,PE7,PE30-38,RM1-18, SG1-19,SS0-9,SS11-17,WD107.

11. _B. East Midlands = Western Power Distribution = B1-21,B23-38,B40,B42-50,B60-76, B80,B90-98,BS17,CV36,CV37,CW12,DY1-14, GL1-6,GL50-56,GL9-20,HR1-4,HR6-8,OX7,OX15-16,ST1-21,SY1-9,ST21,SY1-0,SY15, TF1-13,WR1-15, WS1-15,WV1-16.

12. _C. London = UK Power Networks = BR1,BR3,BR7,CR5,DA14-18,DA2,DA5-8, E1-1,E5-18,EC1,EC2Y,EC4Y,EC1A-4A,EC1M-4M,EC1N-4N,EC1R-4R,EC1V-4V, IG1-9.IG11,KT2-4,N1,N5,N7,N8,N16,N19,NW1,NW3,NW5,NW6,NW8,NW10, SE1-28,SW1A,SW1E,SW1H,SW1P,SW1V,SW1W,SW1X,SW1Z,SW2-20, W1H,W1H,W1N,W1P,W1R,W1V,W11X,W1Y,W2,W6,W8-12,W14, WC1A,WC1B,WC1E,WC1H,WC1N,WC1R,WC1V,WC1X, WC2A,WC2B,WC2E,WC2H,WC2N,WC2R.

13. _D. Merseyside / North Wales = Scottish Power Energy Networks = CH1-8,CW1-11,L1-39,L60-70,L72,;;11-49,LL51-78,LL7,PR8,PR9, SY10-14,SY16-24,WA1-2,WA4-11,WA16.

14. _E. West Midlands = Western Power Distribution = B1-21,B23-38,B40,B42-50,B60-76,B80,B90-98, BS17,CV36,CV37,CW12,DY1-14, GL1-6,GL50-56,GL9.20,HR1-4,HR6-8,OX7.OX15-16, ST1-21,SY1-9,SY15,TF1-13,WR1-15,WR1-15,WV16.

15. _F. North East England = Northern Power Grid = DH1-9,DL1-17,HG1-5,NE1-13,NE15-49,NE61-71,NE99, SR1-8,TS1-29, YO1-3,YO5-8,YO11-14,YO17-18,YO21-22,YO25.

16. _G. North West England = Electricity North West = BB1-7,BB9-12,BD24,BL0-9,CA1-28, FY1-8,L40,LA1-23,M11-35,M38,M1-9,M40-41,M43-46,M60,M90, OL1-12,OL15-16,PR1-7,SK1-17, WA12-15,WA3,WA1-8.

17. _P. Northern Scotland = SSE - AB10-12,AB15-16,AB1-3,AB21-25,AB30-38,AB41-45,AB51-56, DD1-11,FK15-21,G83-84,HS1-2, IV1-29,IV30-32,IB36,IV40-49,IV51-56, KA27-28,KW1-3,KW5-17,KY13, PA20-49,PA60-78,PA80-88,PH1-26,PH30-44,ZE1-3.

18. _N. Southern Scotland = Scottish Power Energy Networks = DG1-14,DG16,EH1-40,EH51-55, FK1-14,G11-15,G1-5,G20-23,G31-34,G40-46,G51-53,G58,G60-79,G81-82, KA1-26,KA29,KA30,KY1-12,KY14-16, ML1-12,PA1-19,TD1-15.

19. _J. South East England = UK Power Networks = BN1-16,BN20-27,BN41-45,BR2,BR4-6,BR8, CR1,CR2-4,CR6-9,CT1-21,DA1,DA3-4,DA9-13, GU1-2,GU4-6,GU21-23,GU25,KT1,KT5-24,ME1-20,RH1-13,RH15-20, SM1-7, TN1-40,W9-10,TW20.

20. _H. Southern England = SSE = BA7-15,BA20-23,BH1-25,BH31,BN17-18,DT1-5,DT9-11, GU24,GU26-35,GU3,GU7-20,HP9-15,OX1-6,OX8-14,OX18,OX20,OX33,OX44, PO1-22,PO30-41,RG1-17,RG21-28,RG30,RG40,RH14, SL0-9,SN1-16,SN38,SO14-24,SO30-32,SO40-43,SO45,SO50-53, SP1-11,TW1-8,TW11-19,UB1-10,W3-5,W7,W13.

21. _K. South Wales = Western Power Distribution = CF1-5,CF7-8,CF31-48,CF61-64,CF83, HR5,LD1-8,NP1-9,NP16,NP44, SA1-20,SA31-48,SA61-73,SY25.

22. _L. South West England = Western Power Distribution = ba1-6,BA16,BS1-16,BS18-28,BS32,BS34,BS99, DT6-8,EX1-23,EX31-33, PL1-35,TA1-24,TQ1-14,TR1-2.

23. _M. Yorkshire = Northern Power Grid = BB8,BD1-23,DN1-12,DN14-19MDN31-40,HD1-8,HU1-20,HX1-7, LN7,LS1-29,OL14,S1-14,S17-29,S3-31,S60-66,S70-75, WF1-17,YO15-16,YO4.

14. Gas Local Distribution Zone (LDZ):

SC. Scotland (17+18) (see below).

NO. Northern England (15).

NE. North East England (23).

NW. North West England (16).

WN. North Wales (13).

SN. South Wales (21).

EM. East Midlands (11).

WM. West Midlands (14).

EA. East Anglia (10).

NT. North Thames (12).

SE. South East England (19).

SO. Southern England (20).

SW. South West England (22).

15. Gas Exit Points in Scotland:

LC. Cambelltown (24).

LO. Oban (25).

LS. Stranraer (26).

LT. Thurso (27).

LW. Wick (28).

16. AMR:

1. Smart meters with Automated Meter Reading (AMR) has unique tariff rates that are stored as distinct tariff records.

2. Where a supplier tariff has a normal set of rates and an AMR set of rates, then two distinct tariff records are used to represent that data.

17. FIT:

1. FIT rate is a pence per unit overhead added to the normal energy rate for SSE.

2. SSE choose to show the energy rate without the FIT overhead included while all other suppliers choose to add the FIT overhead to the normal energy rate.

3. Tariff data is stored for the purpose of quickly calculating customer energy costs and so energy rates are stored inclusive of any FIT overhead.

17. Energy Rates:

1. SSE choose to present energy rates as 32 different types when catering for meters with up to three dials.

2. Tariff data is stored for the purpose of quickly calculating customer energy costs and so energy rates are stored as up to 3 rates and not as up to 32 rates.

3. Readings, consumption and costs have a left to right sequence that is constant for each specific tariff.

18. Algorithm:

1. For any energy service, an estimated annual consumption (EAQ) is provided.

2. The tariff unit and standing charge rates for the applicable region is looked up by each potential energy provider.

3. The standing charge is incremented by the number of days in the year and the EAQ is incremented by the unit charge.

4. The sum of the annual standing charge and the estimated annual unit charge is the estimated annual cost (EAC). Applicable taxes needs to be added to the EAC to derive the amount paid by a customer - typically 5% VAT.

5. Where more than one meter dial is exists, then an EAQ is provided for each meter dial.

6. Where an EAQ for each meter dial is not available, then a composite EAQ may be providd with a ratio to split the EAQ for each meter dial.

7. Every EAQ is KWH as an integer number.

8. Every rate is Pence-per-KWH as a decimal number with four decimal places such as 12.3456 and rate are never stored as pounds-per-unit such as 0.1234.

9. Some years have 366 days and some years have 365 days. Some calendar months have a larger standing charge cost than others.

10. The estimated monthly direct debit cost (EMC) is the estimated annual cost (EAC) divided by twelve.

Document Control:

1. Document Title: Energy Pricing Service.

2. Reference: 161116.

3. Keywords: Energy Pricing Service. DMKO Energy Consoltants.

4. Description: Energy Pricing Service.

5. Privacy: ITIL public shared with all approved people.

6. Issued: 11 Jun 2017.

7. Edition: 1.4.

Addendum

Oxygen Factory:

1. Environmental management is evolving from just minimising energy use to creating a very good work environment.

2. A massive conservatory full of special plants is used as part of the air circulation system to scrub the air from toxins and generate oxygen.

3. Each data center is driven by battery powered equipment that are charged by solar panels.

4. As a duty of care to its people, oxygen is generated and CO2 is removed from the closed air circulation system.

5. Every office must have a lot of plants as an oxygen generator and for CO2 reduction as reflection of how well the business treats its people. The office without plants is a sad reflection of how the business treats its people.

6. A closed clean air system is needed in every office to filter the air people breath. The office with open windows means that outside traffic pollution is slowly killing people in the office. Old age with damaged lungs is what smokers and people exposed to traffic pollution can expect - a few hundred plants could have made things much better.

Consultancy vs Brokerage:

1. Energy Brokerage is about getting the customer a competitive energy price for the next year based on last years consumption.

2. Energy Consulting is about financial planning and environmental planning into the future. Energy consulting includes strategic energy reduction, environmental management amd financial planning.

3. Energy Consultancy begins with an energy audit and establishment of a Climate Control Agreement (CCA) that will justify Climate Change Levy (CCL) discounts. The brokerage that does not manage VAT, CCA and CCL is not providing the quality of energy service that customers deserve to minimise their cost of doing business.

4. The Energy Consultancy understands that by switching from halogen lighting to LED lighting can have significant energy cost reduction benefits for many years, while switching suppliers may have no significant cost reduction benefit. The difference in environmental factors such as a hot summer or cold winter is much more significant than switching suppliers. A company installing a modern boiler or better insulation as recommended by their Energy Consultant will have long term benefits that cannot be achieved by switching suppliers.

5. The broker who headlines that £200 can be saved by switching to a new supplier is being economical with the facts in that the broker has no idea if the next winter is very cold and heating costs may be increased by £400. A hot summer can increase office air conditioning costs by one-thousand pounds that is not being managed by the broker.

6. The company needs a fair and reasonable cash flow forecast of their energy costs for the finacial year and their monthly direct debit payment. An energy consultant who has completed and audit and understands how prices will rise in the future is in a position to provide a sensible financial plan with a three year strategic outlook and a tactical action plan to minimise the cost of doing business. The energy consultant understands energy taxes and investments discounts that together with good energy rates provide the company with a reasonable plan of action and financial plan.

6. Energy Brokers lie about energy price reductions - the cost of energy and taxes on those costs will increase year-on-year. Energy Consultants promote energy reduction that will lead to energy cost reduction and a better environmental policy.