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B2B Contract Pricing Best Practice: Reducing contract risk while protecting supply margins

Published by: Datamonitor

Published: Aug. 16, 2005 - 30 Pages


Table of Contents


EXECUTIVE SUMMARY


A “Standard Model” has emerged for B2B energy contract pricing, but to be successful, it requires flexible application

The following key best practices would lead to more effective and profitable customer targeting

These findings are based on a combination of Datamonitor’s energy markets expertise and extensive primary research


CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION


Brief subject area, motivation and target audience

Brief structure and contents


CHAPTER 2 THE “STANDARD MODEL”


A “Standard Model” has evolved for competitive energy contract pricing

The majority of B2B customers currently prefer the security of traditional fixed-price, fixed term contracts

In a liberalised market, pricing that reflects the true market cost of energy is key to winning and retaining profitable business

Price uplifts are required to reflect the residual risk to the supplier in servicing the contract

Quotation risk

Load forecast risk

Balancing risk

Summary

CHAPTER 3 IMPLEMENTATION OF THE STANDARD MODEL


Implementation of the Standard Model seeks to offer the most competitive headline price by minimising residual supplier risks

There are two main approaches to producing quotations against a retail load curve: structured and vector pricing

Structured pricing

Vector pricing

Transfer Price Matrix

Load forecast risk can be effectively managed within the Standard Model

Accurate load forecasting

”Seasonal time-of-day” contract structures

Limiting the time-validity of the firm transfer price is key to managing quotation risk

Strategies for managing balancing risk vary depending on the size and value of the supplier’s portfolio
Small suppliers

Medium-sized suppliers

Large suppliers

CHAPTER 4 BEST PRACTICE AND LIMITATIONS OF THE STANDARD MODEL

Pricing experts and opinion leaders identify best practices and limitations of the Standard Model as employed by EU utilities

Best practices

Limitations

The common assumptions about the client’s future load profile will increasingly come under pressure


CHAPTER 5 ACTION POINTS

Datamonitor believes that the following key best practices would lead to more effective and profitable customer targeting

CHAPTER 6 APPENDIX

Methodology

Selected quotes from executive interviews

Further readings

Research contacts


LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1: The Standard Model involves the transfer of a firm market-based price from Trading to Sales

Figure 2: The principal energy pricing mechanisms engender different combinations of price volatility and attribution of risk

Figure 3: Both under- and over-pricing destroy profit margins

Figure 4: Structured and vector (matrix) pricing are the principal quotation-producing mechanisms within the Standard Model

Figure 5: The quoted price (commodity only) includes three elements

Figure 6: Several types of adjustments must be made to historic load data in order to produce a reliable load forecast

Figure 7: Between 2-9 STOD bands are commonly used in the UK

Figure 8: Time validity of contract offers is not correlated with contract length

Figure 9: Some key assumptions behind the Standard Model will come under challenge from evolving market conditions, 2005-08

Abstract

A "Standard Model" has emerged for B2B energy contract pricing, which hinges on competitive pricing of fixed-price, fixed-tem contracts through a competitive tendering process. This brief presents Datamonitor's analysis of the Standard Model, including actionable recommendations based on the current best practice in the model's implementation and on a discussion of its inherent limitations.

Scope Of This Report:

  • Analysis is based on Datamonitor experts' many years' work in the area of energy utilities generally and of energy procurement in particular.
  • Reflects in-depth telephone interviews with high-level utility executives in leading EU energy markets, such as the UK, Germany, Sweden and Austria.
  • Supported by a survey of over 2,000 UK major energy buyers conducted over the last 12 months, and by similar earlier surveys in other key EU markets.

    Highlights Of This Report:

  • The key to profitable B2B pricing is risk allocation that reflects both the supplier's and the customer's risk profiles. If applied correctly, the standard pricing model does that for many categories of customers.
  • However, the Standard Model rests on some strong assumptions about the customer's energy usage, which will come under increasing pressure as markets become more volatile and large customers grow more sophisticated.

    Reasons to Purchase This Report:

  • Understand the main trends in the area of B2B energy pricing and what they mean to your company's profitability.
  • Gain insight into the current best practice as revealed by key industry executives in some of western Europe's leading utilities.
  • Assess the actionable recommendations developed by Datamonitor experts in light of your company's special circumstances, and apply them appropriately.

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