Heat network specialist, Insite Energy, has been awarded a contract  by London housing association, Notting Hill Genesis (NHG), to deliver credit billing services to 2,857 customers following a competitive tender. 

Commencing this month, the services contract covers a five-year initial period, followed by an expected extension of an additional five years. The anticipated 10-year period is more than three times the average tendered contract length for this scope of services. The contract will see Insite Energy working closely with Orka, the appointed maintenance provider for the scheme, to together provide a high-quality customer service.  

The tender is also unique because NHG is changing providers, a process which has been made seamless by the fact that no retrofitting of equipment is required. By moving residents to credit billing services, the transition from one billing provider to another is more seamless to residents. Meter data and customer information will simply and securely transfer over to Insite Energy, ensuring residents are accurately and fairly billed for the energy they use. Unusually for credit billed customers on heat networks, they will also benefit from easy account management via an online customer portal, ‘my insite'. 

Following a competitive procurement process NHG awarded one of the billing contracts to Insite Energy. The tender response demonstrated Insite’s high level of quality and service, as well as an approach to digitisation and continuous improvement.   

“We are delighted not only to strengthen our relationship with NHG, but also to send the reassuring message to other housing providers of how straightforward changing providers can be,” commented Anthony Coates-Smith, Managing Director at Insite Energy.  

“Like any other paid service, the company that supports you and your residents' heat network experience must deliver and meet expectations. What this partnership demonstrates is there's no need to stick with what you've got if it isn’t working for you, and that changing needn't cost a fortune either.” 

Fig. 1: Brent House (pictured above) and Oaklands (pictured above the title) are two of the schemes that are part of the 'five plus five year' heat billing contract with Notting Hill Genesis.

This latest contract builds on an already well-established relationship between the two companies, following the success of Insite Energy in an NHG tender in 2016.  

Recent collaboration has centred around the development of VANTAGE, an all-in-one client portal designed to simplify heat network management, with NHG actively providing feedback into the portal’s functionality requirements.  

This new resource was launched at the end of 2021 and is already helping other housing providers, including housing associations such as NHG, to identify potential cases of fuel poverty. By drawing in and analysing data on energy use and missing payments, the system can help prompt intervention to support customers in need.  

Looking ahead, there is scope to further evolve services and collaboration during the 10-year agreement. For example, while the contract covers credit billing services, there is an opportunity to assess and explore low-cost pay-as-you-go (PAYG) models and further optimise billing services and debt management for NHG’s residents.  

“We’ve worked with Insite Energy for some time now, and we're excited to extend our working relationship with them further,” Laura Coleman, Heat Network Operations Manager at NHG, added. 

“It's a great position to be in – minimising disruption to residents and keeping costs down, whilst also ensuring a high quality of service for a good number of years to come.”