Forensic Energy Margin Analysis
Author: Malcolm Souness, Director, 221b Limited
Some time ago the customer specific energy margin was determined and used to identify a number of issues within an energy retailer. This is extremely commercially sensitive, with all data extraction, transformation and analysis performed independently to maintain confidentiality.
A series of sales channels were compared, with one presenting substantially less energy margin per kWh than all others. We also identified a series of historical online billing and direct payment discounts that had been reported against the energy ledger, artificially understating the energy margin by mid six figures each year.
This started out within the Microsoft PowerBI environment, however this proved limited in its ability to chart the margin of >100,000 customers. The R programming language was employed, given its extensive libraries for interrogation of databases, transformation and cleanup of data, and presentation of charts. In addition, the R scripts are readily auditable, and the results are reproducible.
If you suspect your energy margin is being eroded, and cannot clearly explain why - contact Malcolm in confidence on 021 565557.
Some time ago the customer specific energy margin was determined and used to identify a number of issues within an energy retailer. This is extremely commercially sensitive, with all data extraction, transformation and analysis performed independently to maintain confidentiality.
A series of sales channels were compared, with one presenting substantially less energy margin per kWh than all others. We also identified a series of historical online billing and direct payment discounts that had been reported against the energy ledger, artificially understating the energy margin by mid six figures each year.
This started out within the Microsoft PowerBI environment, however this proved limited in its ability to chart the margin of >100,000 customers. The R programming language was employed, given its extensive libraries for interrogation of databases, transformation and cleanup of data, and presentation of charts. In addition, the R scripts are readily auditable, and the results are reproducible.
If you suspect your energy margin is being eroded, and cannot clearly explain why - contact Malcolm in confidence on 021 565557.
Consolidated Dashboard
06/03/20 16:40 Filed in: Reconciliation | Energy Retailer
By Malcolm Souness - Director 221b Limited
In my first role as an energy supply analyst, a whole series of reports for the Board were produced using separate spreadsheets and datasets. One thing that was missing was the ability to cross check and validate data for board reporting. Read More…
In my first role as an energy supply analyst, a whole series of reports for the Board were produced using separate spreadsheets and datasets. One thing that was missing was the ability to cross check and validate data for board reporting. Read More…
2020 Meter Register Review (2)
03/02/20 19:13 Filed in: Reconciliation | Energy Billing | Metering | Generation | Electricity Registry
Generation Register Errors
By Malcolm Souness - Director 221b Limited
During January 2020, we undertook an investigation into electricity meter register configurations on New Zealand electricity networks.
One of the data quality issues identified is the configuration of NHH generation meter registers. Read More…
2020 Meter Register Review (1)
Controlled load availability
By Malcolm Souness - Director 221b Limited
During January 2020, we undertook an investigation into electricity meter register configurations on New Zealand electricity networks.
The number of infrequently used register configurations indicates that legacy ripple control schedule durations remain in the Electricity Registry. For example, Vector has over 0.2M controlled meter registers with 1-23 hours availability, however just one has an availability of 5 hours, and one other has six hours available. The balance of probabilities suggests these may not be legitimate hours available. Read More…
Meter Register Content Codes
23/01/20 21:17 Filed in: Metering | Energy Retailer | Electricity Network | Energy | R | Reconciliation | Electricity Authority
Author: Malcolm Souness, Director, 221b Ltd
Originally published 29 October, 2019, updated January 2020
The source data used for this analysis are taken from the Electricity Authority of New Zealand EMI website. The R statistical analysis package is used to transform and present the data in a more useable form, source code available from the 221b Data Refinery Github Repository. The key constraint on this dataset is the exclusion of de-energised sites (ICP Status 001). Read More…
Originally published 29 October, 2019, updated January 2020
The source data used for this analysis are taken from the Electricity Authority of New Zealand EMI website. The R statistical analysis package is used to transform and present the data in a more useable form, source code available from the 221b Data Refinery Github Repository. The key constraint on this dataset is the exclusion of de-energised sites (ICP Status 001). Read More…