During the 2006/07 year Meridian undertook a significant reorganisation. This resulted in structural changes to a number of Directorates, with the major change being the creation of a separate Retail Directorate. The reorganisation was driven by Meridian's commitment to deliver more value to electricity consumers.

Communications Director Matthew Jansen was acting Retail Director during the creation of the new Directorate. He says the electricity industry as a whole needs to lift its game considerably in the retail space – and Meridian is picking up the challenge.

Delivering on the promise

The electricity industry has been through some significant reforms and faced some big challenges," says Matthew. "By and large it's done a pretty good job in keeping the lights on, and that's absolutely fundamental. But from a consumer perspective, I don't think the industry has delivered much that the average customer would see as adding value. The industry hasn't really delivered on the promise to customers.

"In fact, customers' experience of electricity hasn't changed much in the last 80-100 years. People don't buy electricity in the way they buy other products. They just get billed for it every month. The industry doesn't offer consumers anything like the range of choices that they get with other products and services," says Matthew.

"Telecommunications is a good parallel in terms of the enormous change that sector has gone through and the way the customer experience has changed. It used to be that you either had a phone line or you didn't – and everyone had the same phone. Now, the range of choice is staggering – different phones, different plans, different connections, different services, and more options for customers every day. We believe we're at the start of a similar kind of transformation in the electricity industry" he says.

A necessary step

Matthew Jansen says there are many opportunities to unlock value for electricity consumers. "We've got ideas about how to do that – a lot of them. Creating a separate Retail Directorate was a necessary step for us in developing those ideas and bringing them to market," he says.

"Our new Retail Directorate gives us more resource to deliver on those opportunities – the Board showed their commitment to our customers by approving an increase in staff. It also gives us real focus and leadership in the retail space – and the freedom to move and deliver new products and services as quickly as possible."

The reorganisation affects other parts of Meridian in different ways. Meridian's other Directorates are built around providing products and processes that allow innovation in the customer space.

The smart metering technology that Meridian is currently rolling out to customers also provides the platform for innovation that has, up till now, been missing.

Choice, control, customisation

"Our vision for customers is based on choice, control and customisation," says Matthew. "In terms of choice, for example, we would like to offer more opportunities around pricing plans and provide options that are simple and easy to understand.

"In terms of control, at the moment customers don't have the information required to make informed decisions. They don't know the cost of the electricity they're using until they get their bill, so they can't make tradeoffs or other decisions that could help them reduce their electricity costs. Large customers with half-hourly metering can do that to a certain extent with some of the tools we provide now, but residential customers can't. With smart metering, we may be able to provide that information easily to all customers.

"In terms of customisation, in the future customers may be able to personalise their electricity service just as they can choose ringtones or skins to personalise their cellphones. A simple example might be offering choices about how you are billed and how often.

"It will take time to bring all of the initiatives we're working on to the market", says Matthew. "But we've nailed our colours to the mast. We're committed to changing the way our customers see electricity - and what it can do for them."