1. Energy Information on the Web
Anne Ku
13 December 2000
London Business School
Modelling and Managing Competitive Electricity Markets

2. Information to reduce, resolve, or remove
Regulatory
Political
Scientific
Economic
Uncertainty
Unfamiliarity
Controversy
"Energy Information on the Web"

3. "Energy Information on the Web"
“You don’t need to take a course. By now, you should be able to do your own research and ask a few intelligent questions.”
Derek Bunn, 1993 in response to Anne Ku’s request to take courses in energy policy and modelling
"Energy Information on the Web"

4. Lo and behold the Internet !
All day long, all year round, everywhere
Shifting costs from producer to consumer
printing and distribution TO
dialling up/logging on, searching, printing
Search engines, directories, guru links
Companies, trade groups, government bodies, universities/research institutes
Publishers, consultants, advisors
"Energy Information on the Web"

5. Finders keepers. Losers weepers.
Information is costly to produce but cheap to reproduce." - Shapiro & Varian, Information Rules, 1999
With the Internet, it’s cheaper still for the producer” - Anne Ku
(while the information seeker suffers from anxiety and frustration of searching on the Internet OR information overload.)
"Energy Information on the Web"

6. "Energy Information on the Web"
Does free information have any value? There is a perception that the more easily available and the later we come to know of its existence, the less useful (less valuable) is the information to us at that point in time. Thus, we perceive an inverse relationship between value and availability of information: Low value for FREELY and widely available, give-aways, public, known for a long time, known by a lot of people, information that does not require much processing. High for EXPENSIVE, difficult to come by, scarce, organised, young or fresh (just released), secret, a lot of processing required (effort to get the information).
"Energy Information on the Web"

7. Why would information be provided free of charge?
Publicity: press releases, “about”, reduce transaction cost of servicing frequent enquiries
Credibility: expertise, writing/research style
Teaser: example of more to come, trial subscriptions
Traffic: advertising revenue, community, stickiness, cross sells
Good will, but it helps you in the end
"Energy Information on the Web"

8. "Energy Information on the Web"
Perceived value of information related to transaction costs of information
Acquisition effort: how much you paid for it (if not free), how hard to find it, how long you had to wait to get it
Shelf life: length of time the information is still valid and useful
Frequency of release: irregular or regular; one-off, real-time, slow-time
Time to release: process/production time
Time and effort to comprehend and digest
"Energy Information on the Web"

9. "Energy Information on the Web"
All things considered
Relevance: the right information, in the right format, quality, level of comprehension, at the right time
Comprehensible: understandable, writing style
Comprehensiveness: complete, no loop-holes, well-referenced
Cognitive economy: limitation of the brain to remember things and deal with complexity; how to avoid information overload
Type/purpose of information: marketing/PR, educational, update/informative, insightful, perception/opinions, factual
Convenience yield of research: having it there when you need it, thus no need to look for it (cost of storage)
Reliability, credibility of source
Perception of source: independent, objective vs biased, subjective
Depth vs breadth of coverage
"Energy Information on the Web"

10. The A, B, C’s of energy topics
"Energy Information on the Web"

11. Types of information from the objective to the subjective
News: who, what, when , where, why
Data: what
Analysis: what, why, how
Government and regulatory bodies: “consultation documents” or “notice of proposed rule making”, policy, legislation
Research reports, magazine articles, features, letters, opinions, discussions
"Energy Information on the Web"

12. "Energy Information on the Web"
Energy News
Specialist energy only
Platts, Sagewave
Reuters Energy Briefing
Petroleum Argus
Dow Jones Energy
FT Energy
Multi-sourced
Energy Central
Energy Online
Generalist news provider with news about energy
New York Times
Wallstreet Journal
Financial Times
CNN
BBC
"Energy Information on the Web"

13. "Energy Information on the Web"
Energy Data
Period
Historical time series (Platts, FT Energy/RDI)
Real-time (energy news providers, energy exchanges)
Forecasts (DRI, CERA, EIA, WEFA)
Type of data
prices
volume (supply, demand)
plant outages
weather
power plant operational statistics
"Energy Information on the Web"

14. "Energy Information on the Web"
Energy Analysis
Publications: daily, weekly, fortnightly, monthly, bi-monthly, quarterly Utilities Week, Public Utilities Fortnightly, EPRM, Hart Energy Markets, Global Energy Business, Commodities Now
Consultants: individuals such as Stoft, energy specialists such as Scientech, the big ones all have energy/utilities practices
Universities: Univ of California, Stanford, Harvard, LBS
Trade/professional associations, lobby groups: EEI, EA, IAEE, EurElectric, EFET, WRMA, BWEA, TURN
Government: EIA, OFGEM, CEC, FERC
"Energy Information on the Web"

15. Types of information seekers
Type 1: value-focussed
Type 2: alternative-driven or new to the game
Type 3: hybrid
"Energy Information on the Web"

16. “I know what I want, but I just can’t find it.”
Knowledgeable, specific
No time to scan or window-shop
Willing to pay
Convenience yield of research very high: have the information available when you need it
Examples: researchers, consultants, speakers
Solutions: effective search engines, search strategy, clipping service, paid subscriptions,
"Energy Information on the Web"

17. “I think I know what I want, but I’m open to suggestions.”
Like to browse and surf
Learning mode, window shopping
Examples: Newcomers to energy, magazine editors looking for good ideas
Solutions: “push media” such as newsedge or pointcast, subscriptions, click-through links, guru sites.
"Energy Information on the Web"

18. "Energy Information on the Web"
“I don’t know what I’m looking for, but I’ll recognise it when I see it.”
Can’t articulate exactly what they need
But want to be reassured that they have everything they need
Real-time more important than historical
Examples: typical traders, top executives
Solutions: organised, categorised information such as table of contents, directories, index of links, critiqued/quality controlled filtered information, in-house decision support system. Expensive subscriptions to real-time news services.
"Energy Information on the Web"

19. “If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will take you there.”
Search engines
keywords and boolean logic
meta-search engines: Google, Metacrawler, Dogpile
specific: EnergySearch
Energy portals: EyeForEnergy, Energy Central
Guru links: Utility Connection, EIA energy links
"Energy Information on the Web"

20. "Energy Information on the Web"
Don’t forget to use the Pareto Rule: 20% of information sources provide 80% of what you need. The trick is to identify those 20%, otherwise you may spend 80% of your time getting only 20% of what you need.
"Energy Information on the Web"

21. "Energy Information on the Web"
tel: (020)
Forthcoming article: Energy Information on the Web in January/February 2001 issue of Global Energy Business, to appear at
"Energy Information on the Web"