Process
How it works
Eight stages from a bill to a verified first bill, as the process will run in each state once comparison opens there. Each stage has a defined output and a target service level. You can stop at any point, and choosing to stay put is a legitimate ending.
We qualify the account from an actual bill, standardise it into one packet, invite eligible suppliers objectively, take sealed bids against a single deadline, normalise the offers for cost and contract risk, run one controlled best-and-final round, then verify the signed contract and the first bill against what was awarded.
| Stage | What happens | Output | Target service level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Qualify | Verify the business, decision authority, bill, contract, territory, meters, start date, load, goals and decision date. | Eligibility decision | 1 business day |
| 2. Authorize | An event-specific engagement covering this procurement only. No obligation to award. Signing a supply contract is a separate instrument. | Scoped authorization | Same day |
| 3. Standardize | Build one anonymised load packet. Every eligible supplier receives identical facts. | Load packet | Within 1 business day of authorization |
| 4. Invite | Suppliers invited on legal authorization, product appetite, load band, credit, service record and response time. Never on what they pay us. | Invitation list | Same day |
| 5. Sealed bids | Immutable timestamped offers. Incomplete or non-conforming bids are rejected before ranking, not silently scored down. | Conforming bid set | Under 1 business day once the packet is released |
| 6. Normalize | Model identical base, low and high usage scenarios across every charge component and contract term. | Like-for-like comparison | 3–5 business days |
| 7. Best and final | One deadline, one round. No supplier sees another supplier’s bid, identity or margin. | Final offer set | One round only |
| 8. Select and verify | You decide, including staying put. We diff the contract against the award, then track enrollment, service start and the first bill. | Competition Certificate | Through first bill |
What you receive at the end
The record at the end is a Competition Certificate: which suppliers were invited, how many independent parent companies responded, the offer timestamps, the assumptions and scoring weights used, the selected offer, why it won, what we are paid, and the calculation engine version that produced the numbers.
It is a record you can hand to a CFO, a board or an auditor. It exists because "we shopped it around for you" is not evidence.
How offers are scored
| Dimension | Weight | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Normalized total cost | 55% | Modelled across identical base, low and high usage scenarios. |
| Contract and pass-through risk | 20% | What can move after signature, and who carries it. |
| Supplier reliability | 15% | Quote completeness, contract fidelity, enrollment accuracy, billing accuracy, response time. |
| Verified sustainability attributes | 5% | Only where the attribute is actually verified. |
| Customer-specific priorities | 5% | Whatever you tell us matters that the other four do not capture. |
You may select any conforming offer regardless of score. Every override is recorded with its reason, because a decision the scoring did not predict is usually the most informative thing in the file.
Compensation cannot buy rank. No supplier improves its position by paying more. Invitation is on objective eligibility criteria and ranking is on the weights above. Full compensation disclosure.
Stage one starts with one recent bill.