The boss of energy bill management tech company BidEnergy (ASX:BID) hopes individual Australian households will have access to its technology by the end of the year, amid raging debates about energy prices ahead of Saturday’s federal election.

BidEnergy sells an automated system that monitors a business’ energy spend. It can manage invoices, analyse meter data and offers an auction marketplace where energy retailers bid for companies’ energy spend.

Currently, it is used mostly by larger businesses, such as BP, Optus, Flight Centre, Nandos and Repco, but Guy Maine, managing director, says his company hopes to offer the services to individual households by the end of the year, further increasing the company’s climbing revenue.

“Whether it’s 6,000 bills for one client or just one bill, it’s the same philosophy,” he tells Stockhead. “We’re hoping to get it launched this year.

“It would mean for an Australian household, you have your basket of utility bills, and we will manage everything for you. You would never have to worry about whether you’re getting the best price, whether there’s other discounts available, paying on time, we can do it all for you.”

Maine says it would remove hassle for busy Australian families, as BidEnergy’s automated technology would always be securing the best price for the consumer — whether that’s a flat rate because someone is home all day or spiking rates if you’re in a working family with children that go to school.

He says the current energy debate is indicative of the increased complexity of the situation in Australia.

“It is a huge challenge,” Maine says. “For our bigger clients, energy debates are on the boardroom tables, and as a wider society we have this volatile commodity that is moving away from carbon and towards renewables.

“It is a much more complex puzzle and there are very different views politically on how to tackle it, which is not making it any easier.

“I reckon the average consumer looks at it and goes, ‘how the bloody hell do I digest that? How do I vote?’

“None of this is clear for anyone at the moment, and we are clearly seeing growing pains.”

And that, Maine says, is where technology like BidEnergy’s comes in.

“For our clients, they don’t have the time to be getting into all the nitty gritty of something that is getting more and more complex.

“They just want to know that they are getting the right rate all the time, whether it’s a market in decline or increasing, they only want to be spending what they have to and they want us managing the process.

“And we want to bring that to Australian households too.”

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