New changes in power supply services in the "Internet +" era

China Energy Storage Network News: The biggest opportunity in the "Internet +" era is the deep integration of traditional industries and Internet technologies. When traditional power supply services are deeply integrated with the emerging Internet, a series of new changes will take place. The reporter learned from the just-concluded 2017 mid-year work conference of the State Grid Corporation that in the first half of the year, the online power application rate of high and low voltage users reached more than 80%, the proportion of smart payment users exceeded 50%, and the number of new "multi-meter integration" information collection users increased by 1 million... All signs indicate that in the future, smart power consumption services oriented to customer experience and value-added power consumption services based on cross-border cooperation will bring more tangible benefits to people's production and life.

change

New Model of Power Marketing Service

In the next 20 to 30 years, the most promising opportunity will be the combination of Internet technology and traditional economy. Power services in the "Internet +" era will also undergo new changes with the support of Internet technology.

On the morning of July 23, in the conference building of State Grid Management College, the State Grid Corporation of China's 2017 mid-year work conference entered the second day of the agenda. During the typical speech stage of the conference, the "Speech on the Development of Smart Payment" made by State Grid Jilin Electric Power Co., Ltd. attracted widespread attention.

"State Grid Jilin Power has carried out intelligent payment work with the main contents of 'automatic meter reading, real-time fee calculation, pre-purchase of electricity bills, online collection of fees, and remote power outage and restoration', which has changed the traditional working methods and processes and triggered profound changes in marketing intensification." Wang Jinxing, Chairman and Secretary of the Party Committee of State Grid Jilin Power, introduced in his speech at the mid-year meeting that with the promotion of intelligent payment services, Jilin Power Grid has established a pilot marketing intensive management and control platform, a pilot power supply service command center and a benchmark "all-round" township power supply station in the province, further improving customers' electricity experience.

The reporter checked the relevant data and found that the nine city (state) power supply companies under State Grid Jilin Electric Power sold 52.2 billion kWh of electricity in 2016. Whether in terms of enterprise scale or total business volume, Jilin Power Grid is not particularly outstanding in State Grid Corporation. However, the reason why State Grid Jilin Electric Power was able to make a typical speech at this mid-year meeting is mainly due to its active attempts and bold practices in "Internet + marketing services".

This is also a microcosm of the State Grid Corporation of China's innovation of service models and improvement of service levels in the "Internet +" era in recent years. In this regard, Shu Yinbiao, Chairman and Secretary of the Party Committee of the State Grid Corporation of China, proposed in the State Grid Corporation of China's 2017 mid-year work report that the quality of service should be improved in the second half of the year, focusing on strengthening window services, promoting innovation in power supply service models, and deepening "Internet + marketing services". According to him, even the Minister of Science and Technology praised the Palm Power APP for its ease of use.

As Jack Ma, founder of Alibaba Group, said, "'Internet +' is the biggest opportunity of this era. In the next 20 to 30 years, the greatest opportunity will be the combination of Internet technology and traditional economy." It is conceivable that power services in the "Internet +" era will also undergo new changes with the support of Internet technology.

At present, power reform is accelerating, Internet technology is developing rapidly, and the reform of the power sales side has put forward new requirements for marketing services.

A year ago, State Grid Corporation of China announced at its 2016 mid-year work conference that it would comprehensively build an "Internet +" marketing service channel, uniformly construct an open and interactive online intelligent service platform, deepen the application of big data and mobile operation, and comprehensively build an "Internet +" marketing service application work system in three stages: pilot verification, application construction and system improvement.

In February this year, the State Grid Corporation of China issued the "Opinions on Promoting the "Internet + Marketing Service" Work in 2017", pointing out that it is necessary to "take customer experience as the guide and improve the level of smart services". What are the results of the various attempts made by State Grid Jilin Power in "Internet + Marketing Service"? Ultimately, the answer still needs to be found from the actual electricity consumption experience of customers.

In Jilin, Kong Guoyu, who lives in Longpu Village, Chaoyangchuan Town, Longjing City, Yanbian Prefecture, is over 60 years old and has difficulty walking. Now with the smart payment service, Kong Guoyu no longer has to go to the power supply business hall to pay the electricity bill. "Now the electricity bill at home is prepaid. Pay first and then use electricity. When the balance of the electricity bill is insufficient, a text message will be sent to the user to remind. I am not very good at using my mobile phone, so I sent the text message to my daughter. She is out of town and can also help me pay the electricity bill through the 'Palm Power' APP!"

"On the one hand, this is because 4G networks provide users with powerful mobile payment capabilities, and on the other hand, it relies on smart meters that cover every household." Wang Jinxing was interviewed by reporters after the discussion of the Northeast Branch of the Mid-Year Meeting. In the 40-minute interview, the word Wang Jinxing mentioned most was "transformation". In his opinion, the emergence of smart meters has made it possible to transform power marketing services. "It is like installing a microcomputer at the door of each user, which has the function of collecting, processing and transmitting electricity consumption data. We need to conduct in-depth analysis and utilization of this data, so as to fundamentally transform the traditional 'copying', 'checking' and 'collecting' business in marketing services."

Nowadays, more and more rural residents like Kong Guoyu have joined the "army" of smart electricity bill payment. Wang Jinxing is not surprised by this. "It's like online shopping. There are no big shopping malls in rural areas, but with the Internet and mobile payment, people can still buy goods at reasonable prices. The same is true for electricity. With smart meters, electricity users can also use mobile payment methods to pay electricity bills conveniently and quickly. Grid companies need to meet the needs of this era, so that they can continue to improve their power supply service quality in the 'Internet +' era."

In the past five years, State Grid Jilin Electric Power has invested 4.4 billion yuan to achieve full coverage and data collection of smart meters. So far, the number of smart payment users in Jilin Province has reached 13.59 million, and the smart payment rate has reached 99.2%.

Fusion

Do offline things online

In the first half of this year, State Grid Corporation of China deepened its "Internet + marketing services", and the online electricity application rates for high-voltage and low-voltage customers reached 85.6% and 80.6% respectively. The number of low-voltage residential smart payment customers reached 210 million households, accounting for 53.4%.

The combination of power marketing services and "Internet +" is to further optimize each link of power supply services, so that customers can enjoy faster and more convenient power supply services from electricity application to electricity payment.

How to improve the level of smart services in the "Internet +" era? Integration is the central idea. State Grid Corporation of China proposed to actively adapt to the reform of the power sales side and the new situation of the development of "Internet +" technology, integrate the "Power on Palm" mobile APP, "Electricity e-Bao", 95598 website and online customer service resources, optimize the online and offline integrated process, deepen the connection and data sharing of the marketing and dispatching information system, and create an O2O online and offline closed-loop service chain with sensitive front-end tentacles and highly coordinated back-end, comprehensively improve the level of smart power supply services, and realize the online, digital and interactive marketing services.

The effect of "integration" is obvious. The reporter learned from the State Grid Corporation's 2017 mid-year work conference that in the first half of the year, the State Grid Corporation deepened the "Internet + marketing service", and the online electricity application rates of high-voltage and low-voltage customers reached 85.6% and 80.6% respectively, and the number of low-voltage residential smart payment customers reached 210 million households, accounting for 53.4%. Shu Yinbiao emphasized in his mid-year work report: "Online electricity application business has changed the traditional marketing model and is an important measure to improve service quality with technology."

This new attempt was quickly rolled out within the State Grid system. Zhejiang is one of the provinces with the most developed Internet industry in China. The State Grid Zhejiang Electric Power Company has carried out a lot of practice in "Internet + marketing services" and accumulated rich experience. Since Jiaxing City took the lead in implementing online electricity business in Zhejiang Province in April last year, in just over a year, all 16 types of electricity business for residents and daily electricity business for enterprises and institutions in Zhejiang Province can be handled online through the Internet.