Energy Snap

Framing the Problem

• What is the problem you are trying to solve?

  • Wholesale energy prices fluctuate every 30 minutes, influenced by factors such as supply, demand, weather, and global events. However, most consumers only see the final price on their bill, making it difficult to understand why costs have changed or how those prices relate to the wholesale market.

  • Many modern energy tariffs are marketed as "wholesale market cost plus a monthly subscription," yet customers have no simple way to compare the price they are charged against publicly available market benchmarks. As a result, even small differences between the billed tariff and the official wholesale index can go unnoticed, creating uncertainty about whether charges accurately reflect market conditions.

  • This lack of transparency affects both households and businesses, leading to confusion, reduced trust, and increased customer support enquiries whenever prices rise. Energy suppliers also face growing pressure to explain complex pricing changes in a way that customers can easily understand.

• Who does it affect?

  • The problem affects both consumers and energy providers. 

  • Consumers struggle to understand fluctuating energy bills

    • Households - unexpected changes in energy bills often cause confusion and concern. Many assume they are being overcharged, leading to frustration and reduced trust in their suppliers 

    • Businesses - particularly SMEs with higher energy consumption- fluctuating prices can have a significant impact on operating costs and budgeting. Greater transparency allows businesses to understand cost changes, make informed financial decisions, and better manage their energy usage. 

  • Suppliers experience increased customer enquiries and complaints whenever prices rise. Providing clear explanations can reduce support costs, improve customer satisfaction, and strengthen trust.

Idea Explanation

What is your idea? How does it fix the problem?

• Energy Snap turns invisible energy market movement into a clear user-facing warning and bill-impact estimate.

• Energy Snap compares a customer’s energy tariff against public market data to show whether the price they are being charged matches the “wholesale cost” promise.

• Energy Snap shows the real market signal and estimated bill impact before the customer wastes hours arguing with a supplier.

• Energy Snap fixes the problem of unexplained energy charges by turning a confusing bill into a clear transparency check. The user enters their tariff details or uploads their energy bill. The platform compares the billed unit rate against public wholesale market data, calculates the difference, and shows the customer the unexplained spread in simple terms. Instead of saying “you were overcharged” without proof, Energy Snap shows the numbers clearly: Your provider charged X p/kWh. The public benchmark was Y p/kWh. The difference was Z p/kWh, which equals approximately £___ this month.

Implementation

How do all the pieces fit together? Does your frontend make requests to your backend? Where does your database fit in?

Energy Snap works in four steps:

1. First, the user enters their tariff details, estimated monthly usage, and region. This gives the app enough information to estimate how exposed they are to market movement.

2. Second, the backend would requests public benchmark electricity market data from Elexon BMRS in its full implementation after investment has been acquired. We use this as a transparent reference point rather than claiming it is the exact pricing formula used by every supplier.

3. Third, the backend would convert the benchmark into p/kWh, comparing it with the user’s tariff, and calculating the estimated spread and monthly impact.

4. Finally, the frontend displays the result in a simple dashboard and generates an alert if market movement crosses a defined threshold. The alert explains what changed, why it matters, and what the user should check next.

The current prototype proves the core workflow: public market data in, tariff comparison calculated, user-facing alert out.

Challenges

What did you struggle with? How did you overcome it?

• One of our biggest challenges was understanding how wholesale energy prices are actually calculated. We first assumed there was one official market price that every supplier followed, but our research showed that suppliers use different pricing models depending on the tariff.

• Rather than trying to recreate every supplier’s internal formula, we focused on using a recognised public market benchmark as a clear point of comparison. That allowed us to build something fair and understandable without making claims we could not prove.

• Another challenge was turning complex energy market information into something everyday users could understand quickly. We had to simplify technical data into short messages, clear labels, and easy visual cues so the app would feel useful rather than overwhelming.

Accomplishments

What did you learn? What did you accomplish?

• Through this project, we gained a much better understanding of how energy markets work and why bills can change so suddenly. We also learned how difficult it is for consumers to connect a price increase on their bill with what is happening in the wider market.

• We successfully designed and built a working prototype that demonstrates the core idea of Energy Snap. Users can enter their tariff details, see personalised updates based on market conditions, view estimated bill impacts, and understand why prices have changed through a clean, simple interface.

• Most importantly, we showed that energy pricing can be made much more transparent without overwhelming users with technical information. By translating complex market data into plain language, Energy Snap helps build trust between consumers and energy suppliers.

Next Steps

What are the next steps for your project? How can you improve it?

• The next step is to replace our demonstration data with live market data from Elexon and introduce scheduled background monitoring so users receive real-time alerts when significant market changes occur.

• Beyond that, we would integrate fully implemented smart meter data reading and OCR bill scanning to automatically calculate personalised bill impacts without manual input. We also plan to add supplier comparisons, historical pricing trends, renewal recommendations, and personalised energy-saving insights.

• Our long-term vision is for Energy Snap to become the transparency layer between energy suppliers and consumers. This is helping households understand, anticipate, and respond to changes in their energy costs before they become unexpected bills.