Meridian Energy reinvests in Gentrack billing and CIS system

20 July 2010: Gentrack, a leading developer of specialist utility billing and CIS software, announced today a new contract to deploy its Gentrack Velocity software to Meridian Energy.

Meridian Energy, a State Owned Enterprise, invested in Gentrack software in 1999 to handle all aspects of residential electricity billing, customer switching, market messaging, customer care and revenue collections.  A significant review of its options has resulted in a decision to reinvest in Gentrack’s latest billing and customer information system as a value based alternative to larger ERP offerings.  The new Gentrack Velocity system is expected to provide the technology Meridian Energy requires to significantly improve its operational efficiency.

“Reviewing your systems is never an easy task” says James Docking, Gentrack CEO. “It can take several years to determine the best path forward in a competitive and dynamic environment such as New Zealand’s energy sector. We are excited to continue working with the team at Meridian Energy to help them achieve their business goals, especially as they strive for leader advantage in Advanced Metering and retail energy.”

Gentrack will deploy its latest web-browser based billing, CIS and collections technologies developed in New Zealand. Designed to enable utilities to streamline business processes and to interact seamlessly with the market and smart metering technologies, Gentrack Velocity is based on a substantial R&D commitment and commercial software deployment over 20 years into local and international energy utility sectors.

“The market is undergoing further change as a result of the ETS and Ministerial Review,” continued Docking. “One thing is certain, utilities will need flexible and robust systems like Gentrack Velocity to support competitive strategies and to enable rapid business transformation for continued market compliance and greater levels of customer service.”

A Project Discovery phase kicked off in April with Gentrack and Meridian project teams engaged to validate requirements and the solution to be deployed. This key project follows a number of large wins for Gentrack in the energy, water and airport utility markets across the UK, USA, Australia, Europe and Asia.  Now based in its new headquarters in Auckland, Gentrack is experiencing unprecedented demand for its specialist utility billing and CIS software as utilities entertain its low risk proposition and Gentrack’s ability to deliver ahead of other vendors.

“Meridian Energy can rest assured of a low risk project that will deliver immediate benefit to the business” Docking concluded. “Not just improved customer service levels and revenue recovery, but also operational cost reductions as users employ intuitive billing and CIS tools to interact and engage with customers in new ways.“