Developing a retail energy service business

Opportunities in the retail energy market and some of the steps that Consumersfirst Ltd. plans to take to carve out an appropriate niche for itself in what is expected to be a fiercely competitive deregulated energy market in Ontario are discussed. The major components of Consumersfirst Ltd's (Canadian division of IPLE's retail energy services), are a multi-faceted energy strategy, featuring unbundling Consumers Gas, acquisition of complementary enterprises such as e.g. HVAC contractors, investigation of green energy opportunities, and alliances and joint ventures with companies providing complementary services, such as e.g. Hydro-Quebec. The critical success factors, as always, are understanding customer needs, defining clear and differentiated value propositions, delivering on promises, selecting the right people for the job, and taking the longer-term view. Most important of all is to realize that there is no proven or single 'end state' model as markets are constantly evolving. figs