Texas Energy Executives Deliberate Wholesale Price Spikes at Tilting The Grid

Integrate Agency Hosts Retail Electricity Conference to Discuss Industry Disruptions

HOUSTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Executives in the Retail Electricity sector convened Friday, Nov. 15 at the 2nd annual Tilting The Grid conference dedicated to addressing the issues affecting the Texas electricity market. This year, speakers and panelists deliberated in response to the August 2019 price spikes, when wholesale electricity prices reached the legal cap of $9,000 per megawatt hour.

“August 2019 signified a major shift in practically every aspect of how Texas generates, sells and consumes electricity,” said Robbie Wright, CEO of Integrate Agency and former co-founder and CEO of Bounce Energy. “Integrate saw an opportunity to open the conversation for these retail electricity leaders to discuss these shifts within the industry at Tilting the Grid.”

This was the crux of the matter at Tilting The Grid. Greg Craig, CEO of wholesale electricity provider Griddy, delivered the keynote address, commenting on how REPs are failing to fully utilize technology and automation. Other speakers and panelists included: Jesson Bradshaw, CEO of Energy Ogre; Karl Trollinger, CEO of Texas Electricity Ratings; Brian Armentrout, Director of Marketing at Chariot Energy; and Eric Danziger, Chief Revenue Officer at Innowatts. Paul Ring, Editor in Chief of Energy Choice Matters, served as the moderator.

Griddy CEO Explains their Solution to Future Wholesale Electricity Price Spikes

In his keynote, Craig admitted that the August price spike caused his company to lose customers. However, data revealed that, despite the August bill shocks, customers who were members for the full year saved 6 percent on average on their electricity bill in 2019. Prior to 2019, customers saved about 20-25 percent on their electricity bill, according to Craig. The wholesale electricity provider shared that even bigger changes to its customer communication model and data usage insights were on the way.

“Technology has enabled a transfer of power from companies to consumers,” said Craig in his address. “We have a responsibility to deliver data around consumers’ usage traits and deliver those insights so they can make better choices.”

Griddy delivers insights to customers about their usage via the Griddy app. If wholesale electricity prices are high, Griddy advises customers to conserve. Griddy, though, is looking to take this strategic use of demand response data even further. During one period of high demand, Griddy was able to drop aggregate member energy consumption by 20 percent with one push notification from its mobile app, said Craig. Griddy is also working on making energy-saving choices on the customers’ behalf such as changing the temperature of their smart thermostat, with authorization.

Innowatts Reveals Variable Rates Save Consumers Money and Smooth Peak Demand

Innowatts, a leader in advanced energy analytics backed by Energy Impact Partners, Evergy Ventures, Shell Ventures, EEI, Iberdrola and Veronorte, proposed a different solution for mitigating price spikes. By incentivizing consumers with time-of-use-electricity plans, which offer lower rates when demand is low, consumers will adjust their consumption behavior to see savings. Based on two years of smart meter data, Innowatts saw consumers electricity bills decrease by approximately 10 percent when they switched from a fixed rate plan to a free weekends electricity plan, even when overall energy usage increased by 5 percent, according to Danziger.

“The Texas retail electricity market is laden with untapped opportunities to disrupt and bring about great changes,” said Wright. “Tilting the Grid has ignited the conversation for REPs to proactively drive innovation and educate customers.”

“Integrate is leading the charge in strategic marketing for REPs,” said Allie Danziger, President and Founder of Integrate. “It’s crucial for retail electricity leaders to get ahead of the curve and not only speak to disruptions but also to innovatively market themselves to consumers as well.”

For more information regarding Integrate Agency, please visit www.integrateagency.com. For media inquiries, please contact Meghan Witmer at mwitmer@integrateagency.com or 832-492-1708.

About Tilting The Grid

Tilting The Grid, the Retail Electricity Provider conference of the year, is where you can eavesdrop on what the most daring companies in the REP space are doing and discuss what the next “big” thing might be. This annual convening is dedicated to discussing and addressing the issues that affect the retail electricity sector, including big data, technology and the latest customer acquisition trends.

About Integrate Agency

Integrate Agency, an award-winning public relations and social media agency founded in 2009 by president and founder, Allie Danziger, specializes in curating public relations strategies to integrate social media, community relations, graphic design, and more to support its clients’ goals and effectively reach defined target audiences within the ever-evolving communications landscape. Over the years, Integrate has been recognized by PRSA Houston, IABC Houston and AMA Houston for its award-winning client work, as well as being named the Top Mid-Sized Agency of the Year from PRSA Houston.

Contacts

Meghan Witmer

mwitmer@integrateagency.com
832-492-1708