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Talking Heads
TALKING HEADS Joel Stark
Joel Stark is managing director at Stark
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Stirring up the data market
Data will be key to the energy management sector in the coming years. Joel Stark wants to make sure that his company continues its philosophy of ensuring customers get the very best from all this information
The UK energy market may have changed beyond recognition since Stark was formed in the early 1980s but the company’s mission remains the same. “Since day one we have been passionate in helping energy professionals do their job better through analytics and data,” managing director Joel Stark, told EiBI. “The right data in an analytics platform. That’s how we built the business. It’s simple but it’s taken 40 years.”
Data will be key to the energy management sector in the coming years, believes Joel. “It’s now a highly competitive market. We’ve watched the energy data market explode and managed to light a few matches on the way. The quality of data has risen right across the board and the premium that customers put on that information has got broader. Consumers can’t understand why it is so hard to get hold of accurate data. It should be easy to provide information when and how much energy has been used.”
In its early days Stark focused on tariff analysis. “We only got into data because our customers would take our software and ask why they couldn’t take the settlement meter data. That led us to achieving accreditation to be a half hourly data collector and aggregator in 2001.”
Joel’s involvement in the business did not begin until after that date. Set up by his father, Howard, the business did not become his chosen career route for some years. “I took a different path after university, going into corporate development for big telecommunications and media businesses. When I started helping my father think about how he could retire from the business I realised that it held more interest and was more relevant to what I’d done in the past. I found there were many parallels.”
When Joel joined the business in the mid noughties “we were right at the beginning of creating the UK’s energy data network by putting in the next generation of metering,” he said. “And even now we are only halfway through the journey.
Stark: 'in the next few years we are going to move to a very data rich environment'
In the next few years we are going to move to a very data rich environment and we want to be part of enabling those smaller sites to take advantage of the technology.”
The development of the market is coming about on the back of the smart meter role out. However, Joel believes that the UK smart metering programme may be the wrong solution for businesses. “They should be able to take advanced meters as they are the same price if not cheaper and they have control. Smart metering is built on old communications technology. In addition, it’s loaded with central costs and the suppliers will benefit from over 60 per cent of the savings. There’s no guarantee that that will get passed on to consumers.”
Take control of your own metering decisions Joel believes that the smart metering should not be cancelled but consumers must have the right to choose. “We are on a path to educate people. My advice is for any non-domestic organisation to take control of your own metering decisions. Find an independent, robust data platform for the next 15 years.”
Joel is determined to make the same impact on the gas metering market and making sure that consumers are at the heart of everything the company does. “Gas is much easier than electricity,” he states. "You just have to find out whether heat is coming on too early or at times when it clearly shouldn’t. We can find ways for consumers to save very quickly. We want them to have the same data experience as electricity consumers.” To break into the market Stark successfully became accredited to be a gas meter asset manager in 2018. Joel believes that Stark are beginning to “poke at” the sensitive and complex arrangements that exist between the new entry metering service providers and the suppliers that fail to offer a value for money service. “We’re just trying to bring a voice to the customer. One of the most important things is that consumers are getting a raw deal and we are passionate about helping them.”
Stark is also expanding its influence into other related areas. The company has recently completed the takeover of Squire Energy, a gas connections specialist that has worked on many retail developments as well as flagship buildings in the City of London. “Squire’s involvement starts when the building is under construction,” say Joel. “And sometimes many years before it is built. So we can put metering in at the beginning of the journey which is something we have not had historically. We can go from that network connection right the way through the data and analytics to building operation and control.”
The emerging EV market is another area that Joel feels there is a role for Stark. “However, it’s very uncertain that it is going to develop but we want to be part of the conversation. Metering is part of the equation. For example, customers will want to know that their battery operator has been paid the right amount."
Joel believes that energy management will play a crucial role in the green economy of the future. “The drumbeat around climate change is radically different. It is more relevant than ever to more people. Net zero is taking things to another level and I can’t see how energy management is not at the heart of that. What Government should be doing is to let businesses innovate.”
