By Ram Superable Agustin
Filipino startup company Exora recently launched a platform to help local firms in their energy procurement needs that can result in much lower energy costs.
Exora, which is involved with the incubator program of the Ateneo de Manila University and the institution’s School of Science and Engineering. helps establishments such as manufacturing plants, hospitals, and universities who have at least P2,500,000 in electric bills to cut cost.
“Our platform, called Exora Source, will help you find the retail electricity supplier that best fits your energy profile and needs, which can help you save up to 30 percent in your electricity bill,” Sergius Santos of Exora said.
“But we don’t stop there. We also offer a real-time energy monitoring system which generates data and analytics on your energy consumption that can assist you in making cost-effective decisions. The granularity of the data collected will also allow the energy suppliers in future bidding to further optimize their offers, resulting in even cheaper electricity rates.”
One of the successful partners of Exora to date is Liberty Flour Mills, which contracted a lower energy cost from Phinma Energy Corp. in a process that was completed in a significantly reduced period of less than three weeks from the usual four to six months.
“Everything is streamlined in our platform. We have a specific amount of time period for the bidding stage which can be three days to one week. Within that week, retail electricity suppliers must submit and resubmit bids to the client in real-time,” said Santos, CEO in an interview with Newsbytes.PH.
The process starts with Exora Source identifying what the clients need from their suppliers. It then provides that information directly to the suppliers to avoid the tedious process of negotiating for procurements. Through this manner, suppliers can customize their offers that are tailor-fit to their clients’ needs.
The platform also offers a real-time energy monitoring system which generates data and analytics on the client’s energy consumption that can assist them in making cost-effective decisions.
“Some suppliers are large enough that they can lower the price, but in reality, our platform is critical in maintaining the competition between suppliers because it does not mean that only large-scale suppliers can offer cheaper prices,” said Santos.
Santos said that before the introduction of Exora Source, small energy suppliers usually ended up selling their powerplants to bigger competitors as they are unable to reach their customers.
There are at least 30 energy suppliers, including well-established companies like AboitizPower, Phinma Energy Corp., Core Energy, and First Gen, in the platform.
