Perth Energy selects Gentrack to support its growth in Australia’s energy market

21 August 2008: Perth Energy, a Perth-based energy retailer and majority owned by Infratil, has selected Gentrack Velocity software to support its business growth.

Perth Energy supplies electricity to commercial and industrial customers in Western Australia (WA), including some of the State’s larger industrial users and several universities. With a reputation for innovation, Perth Energy required a new billing and customer management system to manage its complex billing activities effectively, transform customer services and streamline and automate integration with other market participants in preparation for market contestability.

Following a review of market vendors and growth plans, a partnership with Gentrack to deliver its billing and customer management solution – Gentrack Velocity, was selected as the most cost effective and value adding option for Perth Energy’s retail business.

Gentrack’s Country Manager, and former AGL CIO, Cesare Tizi commented: “We are pleased to welcome Perth Energy to the family of utilities in Australia that have invested in Gentrack. Deployment of a new CIS is never an easy task, especially for retailers preparing for a competitive market and deploying a CIS for the first time. Our 100 per cent record of implementation success and the value our solutions and people can add to utility businesses are key factors in the projects we undertake and the long-term partnerships that we build. The Gentrack Velocity project at Perth Energy will be no exception.”

Gentrack’s billing and customer management solutions are being used in over 30 utilities across Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands, including TrustPower – another utility business within Infratil’s portfolio of energy and infrastructure assets.

James Docking, Gentrack CEO, said: “Gentrack is a growing business and our successful partnership with TrustPower since 1990 is testimony to Gentrack’s heritage in the energy industry and our ability to build long term and value-adding partnerships with customers. Perth Energy joins a growing list of innovative energy and water utilities in Australia and New Zealand, including Alinta which is also based in Perth.”

The Gentrack Velocity project includes the delivery of complex billing capabilities to support accurate billing and tariff management for Perth Energy’s commercial and industrial customers. Gentrack’s sophisticated and feature-rich Time of Use billing system is currently billing over 10,000 commercial and industrial customers at Origin Energy, one of Australia’s largest energy retailers. In addition, Gentrack also features customer management and prospecting tools that will support Perth Energy’s delivery of a range of green energy products and account management services that require a 360 degree view of a customer’s accounts and integrated workflows.