August 6, 2024 POWWR Risk360 is the Clear Winner for Grid Power Direct

POWWR’s Risk360 provides Grid Power Direct with a centralized platform for it to view its wholesale and retail operations.

“The team at POWWR are easy to work with, responsive, experienced, and dedicated to fulfilling our needs.” Ezra Doueck, Co-Founder, Grid Power Direct.

Introduction

Founded in 2017 by an experienced team of professionals who have been involved in the competitive energy industry since 2000, Grid Power Direct is a licensed retail energy supplier based in Brooklyn, New York. It currently supplies electricity to large commercial and industrial consumers in 12 states.  Advanced Energy Capital, an affiliate of Grid Power Direct, is a boutique energy finance company and is also the co-founder of Greenbacker Renewable Energy Corp, a $3.8 billion renewable energy company as well as other energy-related ventures. Mr. Ezra Doueck is the COO of the company and runs all day-to-day operations.

The power to succeed

Retail energy companies today face a myriad of challenges that can stifle their growth and diminish their competitive edge. Critical aspects like pricing, forecasting, settlements, and comprehensive risk management demand attention, expertise, and the right tools to manage effectively. This is, however, often easier said than done.

The challenge

Grid Power Direct was using a legacy energy risk management solution to help it operate more efficiently, and make better informed decisions based upon real-time data and forecasts. However, the service provider went out of business and the solution was end-of-life, so a replacement was sought.

“We wanted something that had a similar feel that could assist us with managing our business both from the wholesale and retail perspective,” commented Doueck. “We needed a solution that could provide ISO scheduling, manage wholesale information, supply billing inputs, renewable energy certificate (REC) management, regulatory support, business forecasting, and customer level profit and loss.”

Doueck was keen to find an all-encompassing solution so that he did not need to deal with multiple vendors. “We required one reasonably priced solution that could be implemented quickly and that could interface with our current billing provider,” he explained. “However, due to the industry’s in-built complexities and constant changes, just as important was that any solution we chose was backed by an experienced team who were flexible and friendly.”

The solution

Grid Power Direct identified five potential solutions. However, quickly whittled down the list to just three. The ops team then analyzed each solution’s forecasting accuracy, operational reliability, portfolio management dashboards, ability to integrate with its existing billing software, and the vendor’s knowledge of the industry.

“POWWR’s Risk360 far exceeded our expectations and was a clear winner. It had active REC management to provide us with regulatory support, could seamlessly integrate with our existing ecosystem, and was backed by the dedicated support of a host of experienced portfolio managers,” said Doueck.

Popular with energy suppliers worldwide, Risk360 sets a new standard in data transparency, providing accurate demand forecasting, scheduling, and position reporting via a single intuitive platform. Risk360 automatically updates daily with any changes in the market and includes a multitude of data points such as future contract lengths, hedges, and forward price marks so that companies such as Grid Power Direct can optimally minimize their risk.

The result

POWWR’s Risk360 provides Grid Power Direct with a centralized platform for it to view its wholesale and retail operations, providing it with transparency and the ability to be more agile. It is, though, the strength of the team at POWWR that Doueck has been most impressed with. “The team at POWWR are easy to work with, responsive, experienced, and dedicated to fulfilling our needs. They have worked in lockstep with us to create an extremely detailed customer level revenue forecast that our previous solution could never reliably provide. I would not hesitate in recommending them.”

“As dynamic and complex as the energy sector is, physical energy risk management software has quickly become an essential tool for suppliers such as Grid Power Direct,” commented Matt Tormollen, CEO, POWWR. “POWWR’s Risk360 is specially engineered to navigate the intricacies of energy supply and trading in 2024, offering a suite of functionalities specifically tailored to the unique demands of the industry today.”

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