In March, we focussed on the topic of "energy data management". This time, we take you back to the desk of an energy buyer. We show how easily and quickly energy data can be digitised and what steps are necessary to carry out the change process. We also explain step-by-step which individual points need to be considered and how the change from offline tables to self-updating consumption values can take place.

You will learn how you can digitise your energy data with little initialisation effort and thus keep it up to date at all times - to reduce your workload and ultimately save time and money.

Desire for digital energy data management

Our fictitious energy buyer Jana Richter became aware of our energy platform and the enPORTAL connect service following her research. She wants to be able to centrally manage and better control the energy consumption data of her medium-sized company - she currently works offline with Excel spreadsheets and has to enter the current energy consumption data of her 15 consumption points every month. This costs Jana Richter around 1 working day per month, just to update the consumption data. There is also potential for optimisation when it comes to all other energy data management. She would like to change this and therefore looked for digital tools on the Internet that digitise and facilitate energy data management. The question she is asking herself is: what happens next and how much time does she need to spend to digitise all the energy data? How complicated will the whole thing actually be and when can I expect a result and get started? Jana Richter is not yet very familiar with digital processes, especially as she has only been working as an energy buyer for the company for two years and therefore has little experience. She fears that the entire change process will take a lot of effort, coordination and time. She is therefore a little hesitant at first, but then takes the plunge because she clearly sees the benefits of digital processes and wants to make a change in her area of responsibility.

What happens now? We take you with us and show you the individual steps that Jana Richter has taken:

Step 1: Book service online

She was impressed by the enPORTAL connect service and decided to digitalise her energy data management with the help of the energy platform and a personal customer advisor. As a first step, Jana Richter booked the enPORTAL connect service online. She entered her energy consumption data in the booking tool and then received a preliminary contract by email, which she discussed with her management and sent back signed. She could have booked the contract directly, but it was more convenient for her to get feedback and check with her boss this way. The entire process took around an hour in total, as Jana also wanted to speak to the enPORTAL contact person again to ask a few questions.

Step 2: Provide energy data

After signing the contract, Jana Richter received a welcome email and was asked to send the following data to the enPORTAL connect support team as a first step

• Copy of the existing supply contracts
• A current invoice for each delivery point
• Authorisation to automatically retrieve energy consumption data from enPORTAL from the energy supplier on a monthly basis
• If available: Load profile data for the power metered consumption points

Of course, Jana Richter doesn't have this data together digitally on an ad hoc basis as she would like. However, after a brief internal document review, she uploaded the required documents directly to her account and made them available to the enPORTAL connect support team. The entire process took around three hours in total, but only because she first had to view and collate the individual supply contracts for her numerous points of purchase.

Step 3: Energy platform is personalised by enPORTAL customer advisor

Jana Richter's active part is now complete. The energy data provided is now being processed by her personal account manager and set up on the energy platform. Jana Richter will have to wait a few more days before she finally receives her first call from her personal enPORTAL account manager to ensure that all the data relating to consumption points, consumption, costs and contracts is stored correctly and completely. Until then, she can familiarise herself with the energy platform in a virtual tour.

Step 4: Get started and benefit from automated updates

The energy platform is fully set up. 3 days after uploading her energy data, the platform is now filled with her individual energy consumption data. Jana Richter logs into the account together with her personal account manager and immediately has all her energy consumption data displayed in a transparent overview. This completes the initialisation process. From now on, every time she logs into the energy platform, the energy buyer has all the latest energy consumption data and can see the current consumption, costs and contracts at any time. They can also make purchases via the digital energy marketplace with over 700 energy suppliers and benefit from the best energy prices at the time of purchase. The most important part for the energy buyer: Jana Richter no longer needs to worry about updating her monthly consumption data - enPORTAL connect does this automatically for her.

Conclusion: Digital energy data management in just a few hours

The entire process from research to the status of up-to-date energy data at all times took Jana Richter around 5 hours of work and a few working days of waiting time. Of course, this figure is individual and depends entirely on the personal data situation of the respective company/buyer, but it shows how quickly energy consumption data can be digitised and how quickly the hours that Jana Richter saves each month can be reduced. The individual process steps in this practical case illustrate well how a switch from offline to online processes can take place and how little effort is required on the part of energy buyers to be able to access all of the company's current energy consumption data at any time.

Do you have any questions or suggestions? Please do not hesitate to contact us.