The challenge

Our client sought to grow its retail energy offering for commercial and industrial (C&I) customers. Leadership identified an opportunity to bring new products to market that reflected the changing energy landscape and customer demand for distributed and renewable solutions.

The ambition was clear, but the path was not. To launch effectively, the client needed to define new product propositions, source capable suppliers, and coordinate internal functions for delivery. The challenge was compounded by limited in-house capability to design and operationalise these products from scratch.

Our solution

Rennie Advisory was engaged to shape both the products and the partnerships that would underpin them. We took a structured yet pragmatic approach that combined market insight, procurement rigour, and delivery planning.

Key activities included:

• Market research and product selection – We scanned the market for viable product opportunities and identified two pilots with strong customer appeal: behind-the-meter solar and battery, and EV charging. These were chosen for their potential to test demand while building capability.
• Procurement strategy and sourcing – For each category, we designed sourcing strategies aligned with the client’s objectives and policies. These strategies set clear evaluation criteria and defined the services required from suppliers.
• Supplier engagement – We conducted desktop analysis to create shortlists, ran an expression of interest (EOI) process, and facilitated supplier presentations. Joint capability workshops helped both the client and suppliers shape workable delivery models.
• Negotiation and contracting – Preferred suppliers were engaged through memorandums of understanding (MOUs) covering a 12-month trial period, giving flexibility to refine products before scaling.
• Operational and customer readiness – Beyond the contracts, we helped design delivery processes, define roles, prepare training, and develop customer-facing marketing materials. A cross-functional launch plan ensured each internal team knew their role in execution.

Our impact

The evaluation gave DEED clear evidence of SHEPI’s effectiveness, benefits, and lessons for future energy efficiency initiatives.

Our work left the client with a stronger foundation to compete in emerging customer segments:

• Defined end-to-end commercial and operating models for each pilot product.
• Established supplier partnerships across BTM solar and storage, EV charging, and virtual power plant services.
• Strengthened internal capability to manage procurement-led product development and delivery.
• Delivered a coordinated launch plan that aligned timelines, roles, and accountabilities across functions.
• Reduced risk by adopting a pilot-first approach, allowing the client to test products and partnerships before committing to scale.

Key insights

• Supplier partnerships underpin product success in emerging sectors: Where in-house capability is still developing, partnerships with the right suppliers are the difference between idea and delivery. In this case, carefully structured supplier relationships allowed the client to access expertise, infrastructure, and agility they could not yet generate internally. The engagement demonstrated that partnerships are not just tactical resourcing solutions, but a strategic lever to accelerate innovation and reduce time-to-market.
• Operational design must be built in from the start: Customers do not experience a product in isolation—they experience the processes that sit around it, from enrolment to billing to issue resolution. In this engagement, operational readiness was treated as a core part of the product design, not an afterthought. That decision proved critical: customer satisfaction depends as much on clarity of process and reliability of execution as on the headline product features.
• Pilots create the confidence to scale: Emerging energy products carry uncertainty, and leadership teams often hesitate without evidence of viability. The deliberate use of pilot launches in this program provided hard data on customer uptake, pricing dynamics, and operational performance. These trials gave executives tangible proof points, reducing risk perception and building the organisational confidence needed to commit investment for broader rollout. The lesson: trial before scale is not delay—it is disciplined de-risking.