STEP Online is Shell Energy’s online progressive purchasing option, designed to help businesses manage their exposure to the wholesale market volatility. STEP Online is an alternative to traditional fixed-price contracting. Simply put, instead of agreeing your energy costs all in one go when you sign your energy contract, with STEP online, you lock your energy prices in progressively on our online portal.

Locking in prices progressively allows you to manage timing risk in a fluctuating energy market. So, think about it this way. If you’re lucky and sign a contract to purchase your energy when market prices are at a low point, you will pay that low price for the entire contract. Unfortunately, the same applies for signing a contract on a day when the market is at a high point, you’ll be stuck paying that high price for the length of your contract.

This is where STEP Online is a great contracting option. By progressively purchasing your energy or environmental certificates in your desired percentages, you can better navigate market volatility. Let me show you how it works.

As a STEP Online customer, you will gain access to our portal. Simply log in and click on the STEP Online tab. You will then have visibility over the products you have elected to purchase, and the time remaining you have to lock in your pricing. Lets have a look at the New South Wales energy market as an example. Here you can see that we have purchased 100% of our energy for Q4 2022, and we have started purchasing for 2023. To choose a price, simply select the amount you would like to lock in. You can lock in parcels from 5% to 100%. As a helpful reference point, you can also see historical information for this market.

Depending on the day, there can be significant price variations. You can set price alerts to be sent to you when the market hits your predetermined parameters, allowing you to manage your purchasing based on your business’s budget. This is where STEP Online really comes into its own. STEP Online has secure features such as two-factor authentication. All purchases can be viewed in your dashboard. You can also set up user profiles with specific roles and authority.

Once you have locked in 100% of your purchases for a period, a percentage weighted average price, based on transactions in that period, is locked in. to convert this price into your energy rates, the peak and off-peak factors provided at the time of signing your agreement will be applied.

We understand that businesses need to be flexible, so we don’t charge penalties for using more or less energy than your contracted volume. This is one of the benefits of being a Shell Energy customer. For more details on STEP Online, contact us for a demonstration or speak to your energy advisor.