Village Energy Announces the Launch of Voltello

Village Energy, a leader in innovative energy solutions, is excited to announce the launch of its new product brand, Voltello, and its cutting-edge smart thermostat product, the Voltello AirFlex. The AirFlex will complement existing solar and battery optimisation products, automating savings on heating and cooling by adjusting settings based on energy prices without compromising on comfort. The Voltello AirFlex will be available in December, initially it will only be available to Amber Electric customers, marking the next evolution in energy management.

Voltello: The Catalyst for Local Energy Management

Voltello represents the convergence of innovation, sustainability, and user empowerment. By seamlessly connecting homes, grids, and renewable resources, Voltello paves the way for a greener and more efficient energy future.

Key Pillars of Voltello:

1. Seamless Energy Management: In a rapidly evolving energy landscape, Voltello offers a seamless energy management solution that simplifies the complexities of optimising local energy resources. Customers gain control over their energy usage, optimise efficiency and reduce costs whilst contributing to a greener future.

2. User-friendly Experience: User-friendly products are essential in a world where consumers want ease and convenience. The Voltello app lets customers monitor and control their local energy resources with powerful automations linked to energy sources and prices.

3. Cost-effective Investment: Energy costs are rising, making cost-effective solutions crucial for consumers and businesses. Voltello helps customers save on energy bills, ensuring their investment in energy management technology pays off.

4. Environmental Impact: Increasing environmental concerns are driving demand for eco-friendly products and solutions. Customers can reduce their carbon footprint and actively contribute to a more sustainable future by using Voltello.

5. Smart Grid Integration: As energy grids decentralise, integration becomes vital for grid stability and efficient use of renewable energy sources. Voltello ensures customers' local energy resources seamlessly integrate with the grid, maximising renewable energy use and grid reliability.

Introducing Voltello AirFlex: A Game-Changer in Air Conditioning Energy Management

The Voltello AirFlex revolutionises air conditioning energy management, redefining comfort and savings. This product stands out with its:

• Automatic optimisation of air conditioning in line with energy prices such as Amber Electric's wholesale energy prices.

• Maximisation of energy efficiency with energy sources like rooftop solar and batteries.

• Seamless integration with smart home devices like Alexa and Google Home.

• Customisable control via the Voltello app, aligning preferences with energy prices.

The Future of Home Energy Automation

Voltello AirFlex is the first in a series of innovative products that will soon be available to households across Australia. With Voltello, customers hold the power to a greener, smarter, and more cost-efficient tomorrow.

About Village Energy

Village Energy is dedicated to empowering individuals and utilities to reshape the energy landscape. Our mission is to create a sustainable and efficient world for generations to come through innovative energy solutions.

Want to learn more about Voltello and our energy management products? Visit www.village.energy

Are you an Amber Electric customer interested in the Voltello AirFlex? Register your interest here.

How Village Energy is Redefining the Customer Experience in the Energy Sector

In an era where everything is expected instantly, the energy sector is no exception. Consumer expectations, needs, and preferences are evolving at an incredibly rapid pace. The demand for real-time updates and service interactions has never been higher, and the traditional ways of engagement are no longer sufficient.

Digital enablement is transforming processes, and what used to be simply personalisation is shifting to hyper-personalisation. Welcome to the new normal where real-time is the expectation, and where companies like Village Energy are redefining the customer experience with a host of solutions and features.

The Need for Hyper-Personalisation

Today's consumer doesn't just want information. They want it tailored to their specific needs, preferences, and situations. Whether it's connecting with new energy incentives or receiving notifications of an upcoming energy event, they want engagement that is relevant and in real-time.

Hyper-personalisation goes beyond enhancing consumer engagement. It simplifies the customer journey by anticipating and automating touchpoints, leading to improved retention and extended customer lifetime value.

Village Energy Solution and Features

Village Energy has taken a scientific approach grounded in evidence-based design in developing its platform. The result is a consumer experience that reinvents how consumers view energy consumption.

Village Energy’s home energy management solution (HEMS) is delivered through our Voltello platform, consisting of a mobile app (Voltello App), an on-line dashboard (Voltello IQ) and hardware to provide localised control of energy resources (Voltello Hardware).

The Village Energy’s Voltello app goes beyond convenience. It brings in features like new energy plans, real-time energy consumption and energy flows, appliance-level automations, customer support, and instant rewards.

Some of the key features of the mobile app are:

• Configurable energy plans/offers/products presented to the customer in the mobile app such as TOU automation, demand response, VPPs and behind the meter automation.

• Real time energy data – energy and power data of all connected assets visible in the mobile app.

• Customer preferences – customers maintain control and can dynamically set their preferences on the app to determine how and when their assets participate e.g. temperature range, minimum battery state of charge or price.

• Rich Push Notifications – Easily engage with customers via the mobile app. Customers can opt out of orchestration events via the rich push notification. Customers can also be alerted via notification of an emergency solar management event or when export control is enabled for flexible exports.

• Customer Support – Integration to retailer support desk, AI support, knowledge base, Q&As.

• Delegated Access - Multiple premises can be managed such as homes of family and friends, investment properties and holiday homes.

• Simple onboarding – Customer’s energy resources can be connected and enrolled in Demand Flexibility programs and VPPs within minutes.

• Digital wallet and microtransactions – Customers can easily see when their assets have been orchestrated by the utility and any financial rewards or incentives can be viewed in the digital wallet.

Conclusion: Shaping the Future of Energy Engagement

The energy sector is facing a shift in consumer expectations. The days of one-size-fits-all communication are gone, replaced by a demand for real-time, hyper-personalised engagement.

Village Energy stands at the forefront of this change, offering solutions that not only meet but exceed consumer expectations. By embracing digital tools and focusing on creating well-designed, intuitive experiences, they are setting a new standard for customer interaction.

Energy providers looking to engage digitally-oriented consumers and increase digital adoption recognise that digital service design is no longer an option but a necessity. Village Energy's approach proves that traditional channel strategies are outdated, and that a new, customer-centric focus is required to succeed in the modern energy landscape.

In a world where real-time is the new normal, Village Energy is showing the way forward, creating connected and satisfying experiences that are changing how we think about energy consumption and customer engagement. Their innovative approach is not only a win for consumers but a shining example for the entire energy sector.

Feel free to contact us to learn more about our products or the next stage of our journey. Let's shape a greener future together through rewarding energy management.

Why Are My Energy Bills Going Up? 6 Insights from the Latest AER Report.

Energy prices are on the rise globally, and the reasons behind this are many and various. If you've recently glanced at your energy bill and wondered why it's higher than before, you're not alone. Many households across Australia are asking the same question. To shed some light on this, let's delve into 6 insights from the latest report by the Australian Energy Regulator (AER) released on 5th October.

1. The Good News: Improvements in 2023

Firstly, let’s start with a silver lining. 2023 has seen the energy sector stabilise, with fewer shocks than the year before. Thanks to milder winter temperatures and improved generation availability, the energy system has been a bit steadier. Governmental interventions in coal and gas markets have also played a role.

2. Wholesale Prices and Their Impact

However, stability doesn't always translate to lower prices. While wholesale electricity and gas prices have gone down from their 2022 peaks, they're still quite high when we look at historical standards. These wholesale prices directly influence what you see on your retail bill. In 2022-23, many regions saw their electricity bills jump by 9% to 20%.

3. The Weather's Role

You might have noticed longer electricity interruptions, mostly unplanned, in 2023. These disruptions are largely due to significant weather events we experienced this year, and while gas pipelines remained stable, the power outages did have a role to play in the energy costs.

4. The Rise of Solar

One of the remarkable transformations in the energy sector is the growing dominance of renewable sources, especially solar. Households with rooftop solar panels have been producing more energy, accounting for a 15% growth since 2021. This has led to reduced grid demand in the middle of the day. However, it's also led to some peculiar market behaviours, like negative prices in the wholesale market. When there's too much supply from all these solar panels and not enough demand, the price can drop below zero!

5. The Challenges of Transitioning

Transitioning to cleaner energy sources and aiming for net-zero emissions is a monumental task. While the AER report applauds the progress, it also outlines some hurdles. We need to ensure that energy remains affordable, coordinate the different sources of power, and effectively deliver on major infrastructure projects. All these challenges have a ripple effect on our bills.

6. What's Being Done?

The AER is not just observing; they're acting. They're working on regulatory frameworks to support this transition, ensuring they remain adaptable to the shifting energy landscape. From the consumer's standpoint, the AER is also putting measures in place to support those facing increasing energy debts and is enhancing tools like the "Energy Made Easy" comparator website to help you make informed choices.

How Village Energy Can Help?

In the face of these challenges, Village Energy provides a solution that empowers consumers and utilities alike to navigate the complex energy landscape.

Navigating Rising Wholesale Prices: Village Energy's Voltello suite of products offers households the ability to monitor and manage their energy consumption in real-time. Village Energy has a range of products that allow consumers to manage large appliances efficiently, taking advantage of special or time-of-use tariffs. This can translate to significant savings on household energy bills. By having better insights and control over energy use, households can adapt to periods when wholesale prices are high, thereby reducing their retail bills.

Future-Proofing the Grid: The transition to cleaner energy is complex. Voltello smart devices help households navigate this change by optimising their energy use around the most efficient and cost-effective sources available. This can involve integrating multiple energy sources, coordinating their use, and ensuring that household benefits from grid incentives and improvements in the energy sector. Village Energy's Voltello platform is designed to support utilities and households by enabling real-time demand-response services and personalised energy management, thereby enhancing efficiency.

Enabling Consumer Choices: While the AER is enhancing tools to help consumers make informed decisions, the Voltello app provides real-time insights into energy consumption patterns. This data can be invaluable to households when managing energy appliances, assessing the real-time benefit of solar or battery storage, understanding which habits or appliances are costing the most and setting up automations around their energy consumption. And with Village Energy’s Voltello app, consumers can enrol their appliances into energy plans offered by their utilities or retailer, giving them access to grid incentives.

Supporting Renewable Integration: The rise of solar has shown both benefits and challenges. Village Energy's solutions support utilities in balancing the grid and increasing renewable penetration, thereby facilitating a smoother transition to green energy sources. With Voltello, households can further maximise the advantages of their solar panels and storage. By intelligently optimising when to draw power from the grid versus when to use stored solar energy, households can avoid periods of negative pricing and ensure they're getting the most financial benefit from their solar installations.

Connected Energy Experience: Village Energy’s vision goes beyond traditional home energy management. We have developed Voltello as a 'connected energy management' solution that works with the grid and across households. We believe that together, we can redefine how energy is consumed, stored, and shared. We are committed to a sustainable energy future where every household and business can actively contribute to a cleaner, greener world.

Conclusion

In a nutshell, the changing landscape of energy in Australia, while aiming for commendable goals, comes with its set of challenges that impact our bills. The AER's latest report provides a clear snapshot of these dynamics. Village Energy's Voltello products align seamlessly with the evolving energy landscape in Australia. By offering households the tools and devices to better monitor, manage, and optimise their energy use, Voltello helps to address the challenges highlighted in the AER's report. These products empower households to adapt and thrive in this changing environment, aiming for reduced energy bills and a more sustainable energy future.

Reference: "State of the energy market report" by the Australian Energy Regulator (AER), released 5th October.