Introduction

One of the leading utilities in Europe, ranking among the top 10, faced a persistent challenge: reducing their energy data costs. After five years of unsuccessful attempts to negotiate with the dominant oil price reporting agency, they sought our expertise for their sixth-year renewal.

Problem

The utility had been grappling with exorbitant energy data costs for half a decade. Their primary obstacle was the oil price reporting monopoly, which had consistently oversold data feeds, leading to inflated costs.

Despite their efforts, the utility was unable to secure a fair renewal price, and the data provider’s tactics included inflating list costs, reducing discounts, making false claims about licensing definitions, and issuing threats to terminate services.

Solution

Upon analyzing the utility’s situation, we identified that over 50% of the data feeds they were being charged for were redundant and had been unnecessarily sold to them in the past. Our strategy was two-fold:

• Restructuring Services: We meticulously reviewed and restructured the services, eliminating the unnecessary data feeds contributing to the inflated costs.

• Negotiation with the Data Provider: Armed with a clear understanding of the utility’s actual requirements and the supplier’s terms, we entered into negotiations. We countered the supplier’s misrepresentations of its license and used their own terms to ensure uninterrupted service while negotiating.

Results

Our strategic approach and steadfast negotiations bore fruit:

• We successfully avoided any service interruptions, ensuring the utility’s operations remained unaffected.

• Most importantly, we significantly reduced costs, saving the utility $1.6 million. And secured another $500,000 worth of services at no cost, to make up for the obvious unfair treatment.

Conclusion

This case study exemplifies the importance of expert intervention and thorough analysis in vendor negotiations. By understanding the client’s needs, scrutinizing existing contracts, and standing firm against unfair practices, we were able to deliver substantial savings and rectify years of abuse from market dominance.

Our client’s trust in our expertise was rewarded with tangible financial benefits and a more transparent vendor relationship.

Get in touch to see how we can help optimise your energy data and intelligence services.