We function as an intelligent customer on behalf of the energy industry. This means we apply the following commercial principles across our procurement, transformation, and operational activities and the contracts we manage. We:
Procure services through open market competition wherever possible,
Procure services that are value for money, scalable and adaptable,
Procure services using data-driven decisions,
Always seek to deliver operational and cost efficiencies; and
Always hold our service providers accountable for their service delivery obligations.
The industry funds us, and we manage and invest those funds prudently. Therefore, we only procure to deliver current or future REC Service requirements. We will always strike a balance between innovation and ensuring the industry gets a return on its investment.
Reducing costs for REC parties by incentivising our service and contract management
We include service performance regimes in our service provider contracts. These cover the end-to-end service term, including mobilisation and operational delivery. We ensure that the regime includes quantitative and qualitative measures, is not punitive, reflects a fair balance of risk and reward and incentivises service providers to deliver in a timely manner and to the standard required.
We agree on our service performance regimes before contracts are signed. These regimes are monitored throughout the service lifecycle to ensure they are appropriate and continue to be fit for purpose. This means that if providers don’t meet key performance targets or miss key mobilisation milestones, they pay service credits. Service providers are incentivised to quickly remedy the cause of service failures and ensure they don't happen again.
Elizabeth Lawlor, RECCo Director of Operations, says, “through its proactive service and contract management, RECCo has recovered more than £900k in service credits and delay payments from its service providers. These monies are deducted from the service cost, reducing the monetary impact on REC Parties. We will continue to innovate and adapt our service management, while at all times ensuring that service providers deliver on their commitments.”
The primary purpose of the GDCC is to facilitate the creation and administration of Green Deal Plans in Great Britain by providing a point of reference and interaction between relevant Green Deal Users. The GDCC consists of the GDCC database, the GDCC application layer and a user web interface.
We are delighted to announce that from April 2023, the cost of delivering the Green Deal Central Charging Database Service (‘GDCC’) will reduce significantly. Over the period to July 2025, charges will reduce by c.£600k. This cost reduction was achieved through working closely with our service provider C&C Group, who adopted a forward-thinking and strategic approach to these discussions.
The migration of the standalone GDCC into the Electricity Enquiry Service is the first step in consolidating energy enquiry services.
Brian O’Shea, RECCo Director of Finance and Commercial, says, “RECCo is committed to delivering operational efficiencies, continual improvement, cost savings and value for money wherever possible. Working closely with C&C Group, we set the challenge that the GDCC user community should not be affected by any change, they should see no alteration to their day-to-day interaction with the application or their business processes, and that the proposed approach should be low-risk and deliver material cost savings. The approach proposed by C&C Group achieves all these.”
Dave Young, C&C Group CEO, says, “We responded to the challenge set, and we have proposed a solution that modernises the delivery capability and generates significant cost savings for the energy industry but does so at low risk and without impact to end users. We are delighted to support RECCo’s journey to a single consolidated energy enquiry service. Our solution will protect historical data and modernise the service without function changes or end-user impact. Our approach is low-risk."
What is the Energy Theft Detection Incentive Scheme?
We deliver a suite of services that support the industry as it fights energy theft, including the Theft Detection Incentive Scheme (TDIS). The TDIS encourages Energy Suppliers to detect confirmed energy thefts and take steps to stop them.
Each energy supplier has a Theft Target for the reporting year. Because the TDIS is self-funding, energy suppliers who underperform pay into the scheme, whilst those who overperform receive a payment.
Recouping and distributing money efficiently
In October, RECCo issued c.£6.3m of invoices to energy suppliers who were required to pay into the scheme. We recognise the cashflow challenges currently facing the industry and implemented proactive, effective credit control processes to ensure all invoices were paid on time.
Within six weeks, we had collected more than 99% of the monies owed to the scheme. We reconciled funds due to the Energy Suppliers who outperformed and made payments to them by the end of the second week of December.
