Today, the unregulated and unbundled electricity market requires a ‘balancing market’ to maintain the equilibrium between supply and power. As more electricity is produced decentralized and sourced from renewable sources, energy production is no longer the same as energy consumption, which has created a discrepancy in the market. This new landscape demands new business processes, new roles for payers in the value chain, and other functions and relationships among them.
As flexible energy contracts between the energy supplier and energy customer are becoming common, the age of passive energy consumers on one hand and dominant energy suppliers is coming to an end. A participative, inclusive, transparent, and data-driven energy ecosystem is necessary to define and facilitate the new order.
Led by a visionary leader Jos Den Broeder MBA, companies like Jules Energy have responded to this trend by the in-house design of an online transaction platform with real-time data flows. This allows for the execution and settlement of energy contracts for electricity and gas between the energy retailer and its business customers. With its white-labeled platform, Jules Energy allows energy retailers to mimic the wholesale energy market environment and offer that at the end value chain to the end customers. “Both energy retailers and end customers benefit from this in terms of cost savings, customer retention, risk management, efficiency, and self-service,” asserts Jos.
As the CEO of Joules Energy, John leads the team from the front. Jos is a seasoned general and commercial manager with broad experience in energy markets, energy trading, and retail energy spaces. He has been leveraging his avid experience to take the company towards unprecedented growth. As part of his leadership philosophy, Jos believes in leading by example and empowerment at the same time.
“Do not lead by sheer instructions but signal opportunities and issues that serve attention and let your colleagues come up with suggestions and solutions themselves. Mistakes will be made by persons with definition, so we accept that,” asserts Jos. He adds that Joules Energy prefers to work with people that come to ask for information and support as well as simultaneously bring information and support. The company loves to work with people that have intrinsic motivation. It likes to encourage initiatives and doesn’t believe in imposing motivation.
Presently, Joules Energy offers four products—JuleSmart, JulesClick, JuleSwitch, and JulesFIT. These products enable easy contract execution, online trading, and settlement in the gas and electricity market for flexible contracts. It is possible for energy suppliers to procure only one or more of these products,
JulesSmart and JulesClick platforms are the best-selling products of the company. Both the platforms are intelligent online customer interfacing/interacting solutions. While JuleSmart can handle very complex flexible contracts, JulesClick is seen as a light version and easier to implement.
The electricity market has transformed over the years. Today, customers require more and more transparency. Energy retailers are looking for ways to offer services and products that differentiate them from their competitors. Given the fact that core services are still the delivery of a commodity, they seek new digital business models. Moreover, the price and volumetric forecasts for both retailers as well as the end customers have become a difficult but important task to manage risks and business goals.
There are very few software vendors that offer software solutions that allow for online and automated transacting and settlement activities. Jules Energy is one such solution provider. Its heavy-service capabilities are unique and innovative to many markets. The company comprises a team of energy experts and energy trading market specialists. “Our team combines their expertise with unique IT skills to define new energy business model concepts that contribute to the requirements and demands the energy transition poses on the world,” mentions Jos.
As a modern leader, Jos has to confront several challenges as well. According to him, the burden is the constant challenge, insecurity, and risk for a leader. He believes that it is a mental process one has to go through to carry the burden on their shoulder. Leaders have to be flexible, determined, and persistent throughout. “Do not take yourselves too serious all the time and accept your weaknesses. Having weaknesses does not mean you cannot be successful. Celebrate big and small successes to be able to carry on,” he adds.
The liberalization of energy markets across the globe is unstoppable and offers great potential for Joules to spread its wings internationally and become an important player in the implementation of the energy ecosystem for the future. The company plans to become active in the most liberalized energy market existent in the world—Europe, the USA, Australia, and selected Asian countries. Its target customers are energy retailer companies that enter into contractual energy supply or take-off relations with business customers.
Thanks to its innovative business model and a persistent belief that there is a market for its solution, Joules Energy has retained 100% of customers in the past 12 years. Recently, it has managed to acquire a customer who it was seeking for more than 8 years.
Talking about the future of technology and businesses, Jos Says, “Digitization of business processes will be more prioritized. This trend will help us a lot in our growth ambitions. The importance of data in every aspect of life is clear to all of us by now. What excites me is the shape, form, and new innovations that it will bring to us.” For the year 2022, Joules Energy is looking to widen its product range, increase its footprint of end customers served within the retailer’s customer portfolio, and increase its presence in other geographies.
“The journey as an entrepreneur cannot be planned, things always change. Stay open to that! Find a balance between the plan and react/respond to opportunities! But it is difficult to keep your colleagues following and believing in that journey!”
“Embrace change! Think out-of-the-box and be brave with the development and launch of new concepts and business processes. Put the end customer in the center of everything you do.”