In part 1, we explored how data management can contribute to the energy industry’s aim of achieving net zero emissions. Gorilla is committed to helping to achieve this aim, and our platform was built to enable energy retailers to improve their operations in pricing and forecasting. By getting better at pricing and forecasting, energy retailers can push forward their net zero targets. 

But how does Gorilla really work, and why is it important to net zero? In this blog, we’ll take a deeper look at the Gorilla platform and the connection between better pricing & forecasting and reducing carbon emissions.

Gorilla and Pricing

The Gorilla platform enables users to price up products for business and residential customers, both for electricity and gas. There are currently 4 major pricing applications:

1. Bespoke Pricing - For large industrial and commercial users with complicated needs. They require highly specialized, tailored tariffs quotes. Without Gorilla, generating a quote could be a tedious, hours-long process.
2. SME Pricebooks - Small and medium businesses who don’t require a bespoke tariff will be offered a range of options, which are taken from a pricebook. Gorilla provides unparalleled speed for pricebook calculations.
3. Residential Pricing - Like SMEs, residential customers are offered tariffs from a pricebook. The growth in EVs and DERs means users are seeking more options which require greater flexibility in pricing, which Gorilla can offer.
4. Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) Pricing - Energy retailers often use PPAs to purchase green energy or fulfill renewable obligations. Accurately pricing these agreements can make a huge financial impact and enable much greater use of renewable energy generation.

Although all of these applications are called pricing applications, there are technically two main functions they perform - costing and pricing. Retailers need to understand both how much they should charge a customer to supply energy and how much they themselves need to pay for that supply in order to maintain competitive pricing and generate a profit. 

More accurate and faster pricing (and costing) drives net zero targets in two ways. The first is simply operational efficiency. Anything that drives efficiency, in any industry, will help the energy challenge; after all, efficiency means using the same amount of resources to generate a greater output. Saving time and effort for retail teams means they can spend time focusing on generating value for all stakeholders.

However, efficiency is only a small part of the gains in net zero capability. The larger contributor is the ability for retailers to quickly price up new green products and cost them accurately, ensuring that providing green energy makes sense for both retailers and consumers. In the residential market, more and more customers are interested in green products, but can’t find suitable tariffs. DERs are widespread, but most residential pricebooks don’t reflect this and fail to offer products that account for this. Similarly, smart home tech and other IoT devices allow for much greater demand response but dynamic tariffs are still limited and many residents can’t take advantage yet. 

A similar story plays out in the industrial and commercial world. Retailers need to be able to move quickly and to be flexible in order to unlock greener tariffs, and fully renewable tariffs, and dynamic tariffs, and similar new products that help to manage demand and encourage consumption of renewable energy.

Currently, many retailers are stuck with simplistic pricebooks and inflexible processes that prevent them from meeting customer demand and thus limiting the range of options available. This is what Gorilla’s pricing applications change. A pricing team with Gorilla can rapidly price up new products, produce bespoke quotes, or price PPAs for renewable guarantees, doing all of this with a high level of accuracy and traceability. The end result? More options for customers, better margins for retailers, and a greener world for the rest of us,

Gorilla and Forecasting

Like pricing, Gorilla’s forecasting applications accomplish a variety of tasks. Forecasting itself can be split into demand and supply - or load and generation - forecasting, as well as long-term and short-term forecasting. Every energy retailer around the world purchases baseload for the long term and operates in the day ahead or real-time market for the short term. As such, they need to know what generators will produce, and what consumers will demand in order to load balance and ensure they are meeting their obligations without spending excessive amounts.

The Gorilla platform aims to provide an end-to-end solution for both forecasting and pricing, such that long- and short-term forecasting data feeds into pricing calculations to deliver the best possible experience for stakeholders. Gorilla’s forecasting applications perform long- and short-term forecasting for both generation and load.

There is a clearer link between forecasting and net zero. Getting forecasts right means generating the right amount of electricity and forgoing waste. It means ensuring that renewable supply is fully utilized. The biggest challenge with renewable generation right now is intermittency. At some point, battery technology may catch up and enable renewables to deliver the vast majority of electricity needs, but until then the variable supply of renewable electricity has to be matched closely with demand, which requires highly accurate forecasting.

Naturally, Gorilla’s forecasting applications will help in other areas as well. The efficiency argument holds true for forecasting. But it’s not just operational efficiency; the financial impact can make a big difference as well. More accurate forecasts ensure that end customers can pay better prices and retailers can make bigger margins. That leaves cash available for investment in net zero activities, whether that be solar panels, carbon credits, or utility-scale generation assets.

And as mentioned earlier, each application feeds into the rest. More accurate demand forecasts mean lower costs for delivering energy. Lower costs lead to lower prices, which can be delivered rapidly and with more accurate time of use calculation. By opening up new tariffs with better demand response options and lower overall prices, end consumers are encouraged to shift demand and make better choices, which helps to level overall load and feeds back into demand forecasting. The savings made can enable the spread of DERs, which reduces pressure on the grid and provides more opportunities for renewable energy to make a difference. This is the Gorilla platform.

Summary

Gorilla's platform represents a pivotal solution in the energy industry's journey towards net zero emissions. By providing pricing and forecasting tools, the platform addresses critical challenges in renewable energy adoption and load balancing.

The key insights from Gorilla's approach include:

1. Pricing Flexibility: The platform enables energy retailers to quickly develop and implement innovative tariffs, including:

• Bespoke tariffs for industrial and commercial customers
• Flexible Pricebooks for SMEs and residential pricing that can account for DERs 
• Fast and accurate PPA pricing for renewable energy guarantees

2. Forecasting Precision: By improving both demand and supply forecasting, Gorilla helps:

• Minimize waste in electricity generation
• Maximize utilization of renewable energy sources
• Manage the intermittency challenges of renewable generation

3. Systemic Impact: The platform creates a virtuous cycle where:

• Improved forecasting leads to lower costs
• Lower costs enable more competitive pricing
• Competitive pricing wins more customers
• Increased consumer engagement supports further grid optimization

Ultimately, Gorilla's technology is not just about operational efficiency, but about transforming the energy ecosystem. By providing tools that make green energy more accessible, predictable, and financially viable, the platform is helping to accelerate the transition to a sustainable, low-carbon future. Ready to see it for yourself? Talk to us today

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