Public procurement notice: Prior Information Notice Without Call For Competition
Published: 2017-11-17
Buyer: Greater London Authority
Country: UK
Contract type: Services
CPV classification: 09000000 | 09300000 | 09310000 | 65200000 | 65300000: Electricity distribution and related services

Technical requirements: The Greater London Authority (GLA) will be seeking a supplier to assist the GLA to set up Energy for Londoners to supply electricity and gas to Londoners at fair prices, including the fuel poor, and to deliver innovative energy services and products. The Mayor's ambition is for London to be zero carbon by 2050. The Mayor also wants the energy market to work better for Londoners, delivering fairer prices, helping Londoners reduce their energy use and make the best use of smart innovations. London has particular problems: 10 % of Londoners are in fuel poverty, levels of pre-payment meters are high, levels of switching are low and London has low installation levels of energy efficiency measures, smart meters, and solar panels. The GLA procurement is open to innovative ideas that will deliver its desired outcomes and wants to establish a company or a genuine partnership with a company or consortium to achieve this.
The key outcomes sought are organised around 7 areas: competitively priced electricity and gas tariffs, customer service and branding, innovation, integration with other energy programmes, data access, financial, and possible future transition to a fully licensed supplier.
a) Provision of lower cost gas and electricity, made available across the whole of London (including but not limited to households) and especially targeted towards those living in fuel poverty. (This should include those on pre-payment meters but also other vulnerable groups, such as those eligible for Warm Homes Discount). The GLA will require contractual certainty that these tariffs will always be reasonably priced.
b) Facility to create and vary bespoke tariff structures and levels (including the possibility of green tariffs offering additionality) that can be tailored in a way that allows the GLA to tackle key socioeconomic/sustainability aims
a) Exemplary customer satisfaction that negates historically poor customer satisfaction with mainstream energy companies and embraces technological improvements to enhance the customer experience. The supplier will need to innovate to offer an excellent customer experience, especially to the fuel poor (e.g. using smart metering and using an individual customer's payment history to offer helpful credit terms).
b) Ability for GLA to choose and vary branding (and have the possibility of multiple brands, e.g. for different London Boroughs or partners)
c) The supplier will need to set out mechanisms for taking account of feedback from Londoners to improve their service.
a) Innovating to help those suffering from fuel poverty to help them meet their energy needs and budget for them, for example using smart meters. SMETS2 smart meter or other methods offered and encouraged to all customers with innovative products and services.
a) Ability to work with London Boroughs, Housing Associations and other relevant organisations (e.g. charities with an interest in alleviating fuel poverty) to support the delivery of cheaper energy to households, especially those in fuel poverty
b) Support the Mayor's aim to stimulate more generation of electricity or heat from local low carbon and renewable schemes including those run by GLA, London Boroughs, private sector, local community energy or individuals with the intention of improving income to the generators and passing on any associated bill reductions to customers
c) Ability to interface efficiently and effectively with energy efficiency and other energy programmes run by GLA, London Boroughs, Central Government and others to offer a comprehensive approach to reducing energy consumption, generating local energy, providing demand side flexibility and saving CO2 in an innovative way, for example by using energy consumption patterns, household composition and other data to target interventions
a) Full access to all Energy for Londoners customer consumption data, for the GLA, London Boroughs, contractors and research partners, so that trends can be mapped and potential energy efficiency and other interventions can be assessed, designed and offered
a) Ability to generate a revenue surplus — without affecting the competitive viability of the tariff structures — which will reinvested in linked initiatives around city-wide affordable warmth, CO2 reductions and any other innovative energy related projects
a) The GLA may, in future, decide to set up a fully licensed supplier or choose a different partner, and this approach should facilitate that (e.g. allowing the easy transition of customers and continuity of branding and customer experience).
The supplier will also have to comply with all regulatory conditions (legal, licences and associated industry codes) including on Smart Meters/Data and Communications Company (DCC) compliance.