An innovative app and a new way of charging for electricity are revolutionising the way customers manage their energy use, while garnering national recognition.
Horizon Power has been named an ABA100 Winner for Business Innovation in the Australian Business Awards 2018, for its digitisation of the customer experience.
In the same week, the utility’s unique pricing plans secured it a place in the Australian Financial Review’s 2018 Most Innovative Companies List.
Energy Minister Ben Wyatt, said the recognition was a great reward for the hard work Horizon Power has put into improving the way customers can manage their energy use.
"We understand the challenges families face with electricity bills – a usage plan that provides greater certainty around their energy costs goes a long way to helping balance the family budget,” Minister Wyatt said.
"Customers want control over their energy use, and we continue to work with Horizon Power to develop technology that makes this happen.”
Horizon Power’s free mobile app is the first of its kind in Australia, providing customers with access to near-real time data about their energy consumption.
Using the app, customers can also pre-pay for electricity, pay for bills, and get an estimate of how much they have spent at any point during the billing cycle, giving them greater predictability and control over their bills.
The utility’s pricing plan – known as MyPower – is a new way to charge for electricity in Australia, encouraging customers to smooth out their energy use during peak times or shift their use to off-peak periods in exchange for lower tariff rates at all times of the day.
Currently available in Broome and Port Hedland, customers on a MyPower plan pay a fixed monthly cost based on their historical electricity usage during peak times, and a lower cost for each unit of electricity they use compared to the current variable tariff.
Customers can use a version of the app to monitor and manage their usage, to remain within the limits of their plans.
Horizon Power’s Acting Chief Executive Officer Mike Houlahan, said increasing customer choice and control was the motivation behind the utility’s transformation of the customer experience.
“As our business becomes more digitally focused, so too does the customer experience – customers are increasingly looking to digital channels when they interact with us,” he said.
“We continue to meet customers’ changing needs and expectations by investing in products like our free app and new pricing plans, which promote more choice and control.”
Fact file
- Horizon Power was named an ABA100 Winner for Business Innovation in the Australian Business Awards 2018, which recognise organisations that demonstrate the core values of business innovation, product innovation, technological achievement and employee engagement.
- The Australian Financial Review’s Most Innovative Companies List ranks the nation’s 100 most innovative organisations and is now in its seventh year. From more than 1,000 nominations, Horizon Power was ranked at number 72.
-ENDS-
About Horizon Power
Horizon Power is a Government Trading Enterprise which generates, distributes and retails electricity to more than 48,000 connections in regional and remote Western Australia.
The utility’s service area is vast – approximately 2.3 million square kilometres – which means Horizon Power services the biggest area with the least amount of customers in the world. For every 50 square kilometres of terrain, there is just one customer.
For more information about Horizon Power, visit www.horizonpower.com.au.
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