Over 25,000 energy supplies were successfully transferred to a new energy provider during a 12 month period despite the challenges of a national lockdown.
Published 23 November 2022
Last updated 6 July 2023
Background
CCS’s previous framework for electricity had expired and so a new framework was required. The new framework needed to provide customers with electricity along with invoicing and customer account management services as well as fully supporting CCS’s trading functionality by providing access to trading services, advisors and price to market options.
After a successful tender process, EDF was named as the sole supplier to the Supply of Energy and Ancillary Services framework by CCS in August 2019 with the framework beginning in 2020, and customers transferring to become live on supply by 1 April 2021.
The purpose of the new framework was:
- to use CCS’s experience and collective buying power to help create a cost effective and reliable energy plan
- to provide simple account management and invoicing
- to help enable carbon reduction through the consumption Reduction Services and Renewable Energy Guarantee
EDF were successful in being awarded this framework and set about planning the switch over of customers which was due to begin in 2020.
Challenges
The transfer of 25,000 supplies across over 400 customers is no easy task, and if managed poorly it can have a significant impact on users and ultimately those who they provide services to. With their experience as well as their expertise, EDF successfully demonstrated their ability to complete this task and keep customers informed during the framework awarding process.
What was not forecast when awarded was the crippling effect of the pandemic. Seven months after awarding this framework, the United Kingdom entered its first lockdown. This disrupted the roll out of this framework which included organisations switching energy providers. All this was to be done at a time when many public buildings were closed or struggling with staffing levels due to ongoing sickness and absence levels.
Solution and implementation
In order to mitigate against potential disruption, EDF increased resource on the framework to ensure a successful transfer with negligible disruption. It formed a working group including more than 60 of their own staff which proved instrumental in delivering this framework under the most difficult of circumstances.
EDF already knew that keeping customers informed and engaged throughout would be key to a successful rollout. By careful planning and engaging with customers, EDF oversaw and instigated over a quarter of a million exchanges of data between themselves, their customers and the previous energy provider. This proved vital to a smooth transition and delivery which saw minimum disruption of a key service.
The end result saw 25,000 supplies across over 400 customers switch suppliers, with 98.7% of switches successfully completed by the target completion date, and the remaining customers saw their switch completed just a few weeks later.
Anthony Fahey, Commercial Agreement Manager for CCS, said:
As this was a task that needed the outgoing supplier to work in tandem with the incoming supplier, I am proud of how all parties joined together to ensure the best experience and value was delivered for the public sector. The contracts CCS award provide the necessary terms and conditions to move the estate from one energy supplier to the other, but it is the relationships we build and the people that deliver the service that ensure the experience is as successful as this project shows.
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