When Forecasting and Tech Collide

Rhythm Energy's Head of Portfolio and Management Roozbeh Amirazodi stopped by the Innowatts' offices to discuss the latest changes and challenges to short-term and long-term forecasting and why a sharp customer focus is crucial to staying afloat in a competitive Texas Retail Energy environment. 

"The focus on being customer-centric was very important to me" - Roozbeh Amirazodi 

Roozbeh was joined by Innowatts' Chief Innovation Officer Krishnan Kasiviswanathan for the joint webinar event presented by Innowatts and Rhythm Energy. Rhythm, which started operating in ERCOT back in early 2020, has weathered both a pandemic and Winter Storm Uri and is now one of the Top 10 Retail Energy Providers in a crowded Texas market. 

The two savvy REP (Retail Energy Provider) veterans also get into why it's impossible to ignore Behind-The-Meter data - or at the very least - obtain credible data from a trusted partner like Innowatts to provide insight into how behind-the-meter power is affecting load and generation and what that means for an accurate short-term and long-term forecast. 

Customers Want Certain Things 

Roozbeh Amirazodi - Rhythm Energy 

"Rooftop solar, that's a good example. They want it a certain way. You want to enable that. But at the same time, to make it a viable solution, it also has to work for us, and the industry. So it's tough, why? Because there's no playbook for it. It's brand new. So the way you try to make that work, first thing that comes to mind, it's an iterative process. There's no way you're coming up immediately with a solution that's going to work for everybody constantly, all the time, in a market that's changing so fast, so competitive, and the customer's needs are changing all the time."

 

Market Level Accuracy Matters 

Krishnan Kasiviswanathan - Innowatts  

"Having an accurate forecast, even at the market level, gives you a very good read on where the spot prices are going to be. And that's why, here at Innowatts, we're proud of some of our latest data science breakthroughs where identifying those behind-the-meter trends, separating the impact of those, whether they're solar or battery, and providing a clear view."

 

What the Winter May Bear

Roozbeh Amirazodi - Rhythm Energy 

"What are the implications of an already high-price environment that could move significantly up or down? And then depending on the type of portfolio you have, maybe your portfolio composition is such that you have a lot exposure to electric heating in the winter. And that type of portfolio could swing significantly... In winter, when you compare it to a summer season, what happens, the temperature, the distribution of temperature outcomes, or just weather outcomes, are so much wider than the distribution of temperature outcomes in the summer. So as a portfolio manager, you're looking at something that can swing 3-4 more times than it can in the summer months."

Stay tuned for more from the Innowatts team as we will bring you the best insights like the Rhythm Webinar, industry-leading white papers and regular commentary from our expert team in the forecasting and energy data space. Find us today at either Innowatts.com or follow us on our LinkedIn page. And for more information on how The Innowatts Difference can work for your organization through forecasting, carbon-footprint insights or customer data with profit analysis, fill out The Innowatts Difference form and the Innowatts Team will assist you.