Method of Providing a Commodity Field of the Invention

The invention generally relates to a method of providing a commodity but more particularly to a method of displaying a supply charge for a commodity through a distribution network and a device for displaying a supply charge for a commodity through a distribution network

Whilst the invention could be applied to any type of commodity, for convenience sake it shall be described herein in terms of electricity usage.

Background to the Invention Commodities, typically in the form of goods and services, generally form the basis for trade and commerce. A supply chain is normally used to allow delivery of the goods to end users. Depending on the goods and services, one or more retailers is usually positioned in between the producer and the end users in order to assist in distribution and delivery of the goods and services. Generally pricing of goods or services is determined by the members of the supply chain other than the end-user. The end-user therefore has little input or control on the pricing payable for the goods or services.

One example of a supply and distribution chain, in the Australian context, is the National Electricity Market (NEM). The NEM commenced in 1998 and covers the states and territories of Australia of New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, the Australian Capital Territory, Tasmania and South Australia.

The NEM allows trading in electricity between generators and wholesale customers, including electricity retailers. It establishes a common set of rules under which electricity can be traded both within and between States and Territories at a wholesale level. Industry participants can also obtain access to electricity transmission and distribution networks. Generally the NEM facilitates competition at a retail level.

Unlike other markets, electricity cannot be stored and it is impossible to distinguish which generator produced the electricity consumed by an individual customer. As a result, the wholesale market uses the concept of a pool, in which electricity from generators are centrally dispatched to meet electricity demand. In the NEM, retailers purchase the electricity that they sell to customers from the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) through the wholesale pool, whilst generators sell directly to AEMO through the pool and are dispatched to meet customer demand, using, in general, the lowest priced generator first.

As is illustrated above, supply chains of goods and services are often complex and involve a number of industry players. As a result pricing structures are normally fixed and very complicated.

A need therefore exists for a better pricing system which allows end-users or customers more control in respect of the pricing of the goods and services.

Summary of the Invention Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to overcome or ameliorate at least one of the disadvantages of the prior art or to provide a useful alternative.

In a first form, the invention relates to a method of providing a commodity through a distribution network using a host computer; the method including the steps of:

allocating a unique identifier for a plurality of users of the commodity, receiving a deposit from each of the plurality of users and assigning the deposit to the respective user's unique identifier,

obtaining, by the host computer system, daily wholesale commodity purchase prices payable by the retailer for the commodity;

the host computer system:

calculates a base price for the commodity for a predetermined period of usage time by adding the daily commodity purchase prices for each day of the predetermined period of usage time to each other;

determines a remainder of the deposit using details of the deposit; _% calculates a discount factor based on at least the remainder of the deposit;

calculates a commodity sale price which is the sum of the base price and at least the discount factor;

and deducting the commodity sale price from the deposit thereby allowing each of the plurality of users to pay for commodity usage during the predetermined period of time with the deposit and allowing the user to obtain a discount factor based on the deposit which allows the user to obtain a discounted price for community usage over the predetermined period of time.

The discount factor may be calculated relative to the remainder of the deposit and the user's commodity consumption.

Within the context of the specification and claims the term "commodity" refers to an object or item of trade or commerce which includes goods and services. In a further form, the invention provides a method of providing a commodity supplied through a distribution network; the method which includes the steps of:

receiving a deposit from a user of the commodity;

calculating a discount factor based on a remainder of the deposit;

calculating a commodity sale price which is determined by applying the discount factor and which is regularly calculated in respect of the commodity usage of the user using periodically updated wholesale commodity purchase prices;

and deducting the commodity sale price from the remainder of the deposit of the user to allow the user to pay for the commodity usage over the distribution network with the deposit as well as obtaining a discount factor which reduces the commodity sale price.

The commodity usage may be in respect of a predetermined period of time which ended before the commodity price is calculated. The predetermined period of time may be quarterly, monthly fortnightly, customer billing cycle or coincide with the AEMO retailer billing cycle of the NEM.

The deposit may be calculated using the commodity usage of the user in the predetermined period of time.

The deposit may be based on the commodity sale price charged for the commodity usage of the user in the predetermined period of time. The commodity sale price may be charged by a third party.

The deposit may be received by a retailer of the commodity, and wherein the discount factor may be added to a commodity purchase price which the retailer pays for the commodity.

The commodity purchase price may be received by a host computer system of the retailer on a periodical basis; and wherein the commodity sale price is calculated daily for the commodity.

The daily commodity sale prices may be stored in a database of the host computer system; and wherein the commodity sale price is calculated using a sum of the daily commodity sale prices for each day forming part of the predetermined period of time.

The commodity sale price may allow for determination of a retail discount which is the difference between the commodity sale price for a unit of the commodity and an average industry retail price for the same unit of commodity. Details may be outputted by the host computer system which provides the user with details of the initial deposit, the remainder of the deposit, the discount factor, and the price calculated for the commodity and which was deducted from the deposit. The output may be in the form of an invoice.

The user may be invited to top up the deposit in order to adjust the discount factor.

The host system may include a user interface which allows the user to access details of the user's commodity usage; and wherein the user interface allows the user to obtain details of an estimated days remaining of commodity usage which is calculated using the remainder of the deposit and the average commodity usage during a predetermined period of time. In a further form, the invention provides a method of displaying a supply charge for a commodity through a distribution network; the method includes the steps of:

allocating a unique identifier for a plurality of users of the commodity, receiving a deposit from each of the plurality of users and assigning the deposit to the respective user's unique identifier;

obtaining, by the host computer system, daily wholesale commodity purchase prices payable by the retailer for the commodity;

a host computer system:

calculates a base price for the commodity for a predetermined period of usage time by adding the daily commodity purchase prices for each day of the predetermined period of usage time to each other;

determines a remainder of the deposit using details of the deposit;

calculates a .discount factor based on at least the remainder of the deposit;

and calculates a commodity sale price which is the sum of the base price and at least the discount factor;

and outputting details through a user interface of the host system which allows each of the plurality of users to determine, for each day, the wholesale commodity purchase price, the commodity sale price and the industry standard price thereby allowing the user to visually determine the discount factor and the retail discount received by a respective user for each day over the predetermined period of usage time and thereby allowing the user to make adjustments to the deposit to maximise the retail discount received.

In another form, the invention provides a method of supplier of a commodity through a distribution network by a current retailer using a host computer system, the method including the steps of:

allocating a unique identifier for a user of the commodity,

receiving details of usage of the commodity by the user during a predetermined expired period of time; receiving a deposit, from the user of the commodity, which is calculated using a price charged by a previous retailer for the commodity usage of the user during the predetermined expired period of time, details of the deposit being accessible by the host computer system and is assigned to the user's unique identifier;

the host computer system configured to receive daily a commodity purchase price payable by the retailer for the commodity;

the host computer system configured to

determine a remainder of the deposit using the details of the deposit,

calculate, at the end of a predetermined period of usage time, a discpunt factor based on a remainder of the deposit,

calculate the sum of the daily commodity purchase prices for the predetermined period of time to determine a base price,

calculate a commodity sale price which is the sum of the base price and at least the discount factor;

and deducting the commodity sale price from the remainder of the deposit to allow the user to pay for the commodity usage during the predetermined period of time using the deposit;

wherein the remainder of the deposit allows the user to obtain a discount factor thereby to receive a discount for commodity usage relative to the price charged by the previous retailer.

The method may further include the steps of allowing the user to top up the deposit in order to increase the discount factor.

The price of the commodity may be calculated for a predetermined period of time. The predetermined period of time may be quarterly, monthly fortnightly, customer billing cycle or coincide with the AEMO retailer billing cycle of the NEM.

An invoice may be raised which is sent to the user which provides details of the initial deposit, the remainder of the deposit, the discount calculated, and the price calculated for the commodity and which was deducted from the deposit. The host computer system may be configured to download daily spot pricing which the retailer can expect to pay for the commodity. Brief Description of the Drawings

In order that the invention can be more readily understood embodiments of the invention are described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying Figures wherein:

Figure 1 is a schematic representation of a method of providing a commodity according to the principles of the invention;

Figure 2 is a schematic representation of a user interface showing the method of providing a commodity of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a schematic representation of a host computer system implementing the method of providing a commodity of Figure 1 ;

Figure 4 is a diagrammatic view of the functional requirements of providing a commodity according to the principles of the invention;

Figure 5 is a diagrammatic view of the high level solution context of the various parties and automatic intercommunication of the providing a commodity according to the principles of the invention;

Figure 6 is a high level architecture for use in providing a commodity according to the principles of the invention;

Figure 7 is a table showing an example of figures in the implementation of the method of providing a commodity;

Figure 8 is a graphic table showing an example of possible discounts received during the use of the method of providing a commodity;

Figure 9 is a table of figures used in the graphic table of Figure 5;

Figure 10 is a graphic representation showing the effects of a further formulation which can be used to calculate the discount factors and top-ups required; and

Figures 11 to 5 are tables which visually represent the deposit to-ups required by a user when different deposit figures are used when compared to adjustments in usage of electricity. Description of illustrated Embodiment of the Invention

Referring to the accompanying representations, Figure 1 is a schematic representation showing a method of providing a commodity 10 through a distribution network using a host computer according to the principles of the invention. In the illustrated example, the retailer uses the distribution network to affect supply of a commodity, manufactured by the manufacturer, to the end user. However, it should be noted that the manufacture and the retailer can be the same entity and invention is therefore not limited in this regard.

The method of providing a commodity includes the steps of receiving (12) a deposit from a plurality of users of the commodity, calculating (14) a discount factor based on at least a remainder of the deposit, and applying (16) the discount factor to determine a commodity sale price charged to the at least one user. The retailer allocates a unique identifier to each of the plurality of users against which details of the deposit is recorded for the respective user.

Figure 2 represent an example of a user interface 20 with which the user can access details of the results of implementation of the method of providing a commodity 10. Shown in Figure 2 is an example of the background steps which can be taken during operation of the method. In the illustrated example, the user would be able to obtain details of the following:

• a deposit 22 had by the user and received in the step ( 2) shown in Figure 1;

· a remainder 24 of the deposit;

• a discount factor 26 which is calculated in the step (14) shown in Figure 1 ;

• a second price or commodity sale price 28 which is calculated in step (16) shown in Figure 1 ;

· and a retail discount 30.

Other details which may also be shown on the user interface 20 include a first price 32, which is equivalent to a price charged by market tarrifs or market standard or a previous retailer to the user for supplier of the commodity the commodity, and a base price or commodity purchase price 34 which is a sum of daily commodity purchase prices which the current retailer could expect to pay for the commodity. Typically the commodity sale price 28 is calculated for a predetermined period of time in which the user used the commodity, for example electricity.

Figure 3 illustrates a host computer system 40 which is used to implement the method of providing a commodity 10. The host computer system 40 is operated by a current retailer of the commodity. In use the current retailer would receive (12) the deposit 22 from a user of the commodity or electricity. The current retailer would also receive details of commodity usage 42 by the user during a predetermined expired period of time with a previous retailer. Details 44 of the deposit and the commodity usage are stored in a database 46 of the host computer system 40 for use when required.

The host computer system 40 is also configured to receive daily commodity purchase price is 48 which the current retailer can expect to pay for electricity. Details of the periodical commodity purchase prices, which in this example are daily, are also stored in the database 46 for later usage when required.

In Figure 4 there is shown a diagrammatic view of the functional requirements of providing a commodity according to the principles of the invention. This includes interaction of communication channels with supply and delivery together with calculation an display of costing in light of received details and in light of commercial aspects determined by banking elements and supply of commodity elements. Figure 5 highlights the various solution components. Customer service provider is responsible for supporting customer enquiries, the IVR platform and the generation and delivery of statements. As part of the statement generation process customer service provider will need to connect to AEMO to obtain the customer's actual electricity usage. Banking transactions will need to be included as part of the statement being delivered to the customer. This information will be obtained from the EBA core, which will keep a record or request the statements from IT bank in a box in real time. IT bank in a box is responsible for the virtualised customer bank accounts and dealing with the integration with Westpac as the clearing authority. Some of the internet banking modules will be used for customers to gain access to their bank and transaction details.

EBA will be developing the web and mobile application. The EBA core is comprised of the following components:

□ Core Business & Data Services: This component is responsible for supporting the EBA web site. It provides various business services for accessing information stored in the EBA Data Base (DB). In software engineering terms it provides the persistence framework for business information.

□ Batch Processing Services: This component will be used to process either a collection of customer subscriptions or ingest information from both customer service provider and IT bank in a box on a periodic basis.

□ Pricing & Discount Engine: This is a core component of the overall system and is responsible for determining the discount to be applied to a customer's bill based on the level of funds in their bank account and the actual electricity usage and the spot price trend over the billing period. This component will provide both a forecast value as well as the actual discount based on measured usage.

□ Reporting Services: Provides reporting and business intelligence functions for measuring performance objectives of the business.

□ Legal & Compliance: This component is a logging service to support investigations and audits.

D Centralised Billing System: This component is responsible for supporting the joining of the traditional electricity bill as well as the banking statement. It will keep track of the balance within a customer's bank account and support queries by the discount engine when determining what discount to apply to a · customer.

The architecture is shown in Figure 6 in terms of architecture layers or tiers that span horizontally while the capabilities are shown vertically. The dependency between the layers is shown with arrows. Layers that are not connected will be separated from a network perspective to enforce security. The system and application solution have been grouped into five to six main layers: 1. Presentation Services Tier: This layer is conserved with both the customer and internal facing presentation channels. This layer is responsible for providing access to information and data from the lower architectural tiers. The rendering engine will present dynamic content in a suitable manner for both the web and mobile channel. The Internal Administration portal will only be accessible by internal staff or Call Centre support staff if they require further access to specific customer information. Session and security access services are across all layers of the architecture but in particular this layer as it is available on the public web. 2. Business Services Tier: This layer provides the business logic and domain specific to each module. It provides controllers used to perform business logic associated with business services and returns a view model to the Presentation Services layer for visualisation. 3. Information Services Tier: Provides information based services such as data access, storage, ETL and reporting.

4. Network and Infrastructure Tier: Includes the physical network and infrastructure required to support the platform and business services. In addition it includes any external connectivity to third party services and systems required to support the application platform.

5. Facilities Layer: This provides the facilities required to house the solution and infrastructure together with any specific requirements such as compliance.

6. External Services: The external vendor support services are shown in order to provide a complete picture of the enterprise architecture.

The Application Solution is comprised of a number of layers or tiers, namely: □ Presentation Services

□ Business Services

□ Information Services

□ Data

PRESENTATION TIER ARCHITECTURE

The presentation tier supports both the customer facing channel as well as the internal administration and support channel. Customer facing will support both fixed line browsers as well as, mobile devices whereas the internal clients will only be supported by a browser-based interface.

The customer facing portal is comprised of a number of supporting components:

EBA Website: The EBA website supports both static and dynamic content. The static content is managed via a CMS and can easily be changed by the business to support marketing promotions. The dynamic content is supported by a back-end system. Some of the typical services provided by this dynamic system are:

- Customer registration

- Statement services

- Account management

- Banking services

EBA Mobile Site: The EBA mobile site will need clarification in terms of functionality required. Preliminary discussions with the business indicated that they wished to use the mobile device camera to take a photo of the meter and upload to the EBA system. Such a requirement would need to be developed as a native application increasing the development and support cost. If such a requirement is not required then it would be recommended that the same web site be used to support the mobile site. Further analysis is required to understand the requirements of this component. CMS: The Content Management System (CMS) is required to support and maintain the static content that is presented to customers on the EBA website. This component would not be required initially once the website has been created but would be required by the business to maintain their content. An alternative is to engage the web development vendor to maintain this content. There is a cost benefit analysis required to see what the best approach for the business will be.

Administration Portal

The administration portal may be required to assist in the administration of components such as the control and management of the discount engine. This would be an internal facing system and not made available to the general public. It is still unclear if this component is required as the requirements have yet to be defined signifying its need. It has been listed in this architectural document to capture the potential need for such a component. If this component is required it can be added at a later date without any architectural impact.

Presentation Rendering Engine

The presentation rendering engine is required to support the rendering of dynamic content to a browser. It will be responsible for determining if the target device is a fixed line or mobile browser and adapt the rendering of the information as required. Its responsibility is to take service domain information and render it to HTML. This component will also filter information based on role and access requirements thereby restricting access to only information a user can permission to view.

Security Access Service

The security access service, as its name suggests, is responsible for the control and authentication of access to information and services at the presentation tier. It will manage and validate the secure session establish at the time of login. BUSINESS SERVICES TIER ARCHITECTURE

The business services tier contains all the services required to support the EBA business. The following diagram provides a summary of the business service components.

A description for each of the components within the business services tier is provided below:

Business Services

The business services will be comprised of a number of services that will be determined during design and development. Examples of these services will be:

□ Statement Services

□ Access to the banking services via a facade

□ Account and user management service

□ Configuration services

Π Search and retrieval services

□ Electricity usage and spot price services CRM System

The Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system will be required to support EBA's marketing and sales. It is recommended that either an open source tool be used or a cloud service be used such as Sales Force. Discount Engine

The discount engine component is responsible for determining the discount price to be applied to customer's accounts. It will on a periodic basis connect to the AEMO system and obtain the spot price at approximately 30 minute internals. For each state and customers within that state determine what the level of discount to apply. There is a significant amount of analysis required to determine the exact function of the discount engine using a rules engine. Batch Services

Batch services are required to support the ingestion of information from both customer service provider and IT bank in a box on a daily basis. This system will be used to maintain the master data repository on the EBA platform. The batch service interface will interpret the specific domain information from each of those vendors and map this into the master data store held on the EBA platform.

INFORMATION SERVICES & DATA TIER ARCHITECTURE

The key objective of this section is to describe the data and information concepts required to support the EBA Platform

Information Services

The complexity of the information architecture also has the complexity of joining two separate information systems, each supported by a different vendor:

□ Electricity Statements and Billing

□ Banking Transaction Statements Referring to Figures 7 to 12, typically the commodity sale price 28 is calculated for a predetermined period of time, for example quarterly. Normally the host computer system 40 will calculate the commodity purchase price once the predetermined period has expired. In the illustrated example, calculation of the commodity purchase price involves use of the base price 34, the remainder of the deposit 24, and the discount factor 26.

The base price 34 is calculated by adding up the daily commodity purchase prices for each day forming part of the predetermined period of time. In the illustrated example, customers of the current retailer are acquired to make a deposit 22 in order to activate their account. The deposit would be in the form of a Minimum Required Deposit (MRD) of funds. In one example, the MRD is equivalent to the customer's commodity usage 42 (AEU) during a predetermined period of time, for example quarterly or annual usage, which figure is then multiplied with the Average Retailers Rates (ARR) as per the provided statements or the Tariff rates.

Example of calculations For example, AEU x ARR = MRD

AEU = 8500 KWh per annum

ARR = 21c per KWh

Therefore: 8500 x 0.21 = $1,785

The MRD would therefore be $1,785. Alternatively, the MRD is equivalent to the first price 32 which was charged by the former retailer for the last billing period.

The host computer system 40 may also be configured to directly receive the deposit 22, details 44 of the commodity usage 42, and to deduct the commodity sale price 28 from the deposit 22. Referring additionally to Figure 4, the remainder 24 of the deposit is used to calculate the discount factor 26. In Figure 4 columns have been included for a number of possible scenarios in which the remainder of the deposit is taken to be 200%, 150%, 100%, 50%, or 25%. In other words, the remainder is, for example, 200% if the current retailer holds a deposit 22 which is twice the amount of the MRD or first price 32. Similarly, the remainder of 25% would mean that only a quarter of the MRD is remaining.

Once determined, the discount factor 26 is added to the base price 34 to calculate the commodity price 28. In Figure 4 the commodity price is calculated for a predetermined period of time of 12 months. However, depending on requirement, the commodity sale price can be calculated for a shorter period of time such as quarterly or monthly. The retail discount 30 can then be determined by calculating the difference between the second price or commodity sale price 28 and the first price 32. The retail discount can be expressed as a percentage 50. Thus, the commodity sale price allows for the determination of the retail discount which is the difference between the commodity sale price for a unit of the commodity and an average industry retail price for the same unit of the commodity.

The commodity sale price 28 is then automatically deducted 52 from the deposit 22 of the user to allow the user to pay for the commodity usage with the deposit as well as obtaining a discount factor which reduces the commodity sale price.

Details may be outputted 54 by the host computer system 40, as is illustrated in Figure 2, which provides the user with details of the initial deposit 22, the remainder of the deposit 24, the discount factor 26, and the price 28 calculated for the commodity and which was deducted from the deposit. Additionally, the output may be in the form of an invoice which may be sent by e-mail or by post as a record copy.

The user may be invited to top up the deposit in order to adjust the discount factor. Initially the user may start off with a MDR which is equal to the first price, which are the figures represented in Figure 4 under the 100% column. However, the user may decide to increase the deposit 22 to be twice the amount of the MDR, which are their figures represented in Figure 4 under the 200% column. In doing so the customer can increase the retail discount 30 received from 48,59% to 61,81% over the prices charged by other retailers including the previous retailer of the customer. This benefit is illustrated in Figures 5 and 6. Each of the columns (i.e. 200%, 150%, 100%, 50% and 25%) are presented by a coloured line extending from left to right across the graph. The average retailer rate or first price 32 is drawn at the top to provide a visual impression of the retail discount 30.

It can happen that the wholesale price of electricity in the pool varies on a half- hourly basis, depending on the prices of bids submitted by generators and the level of customer demand for electricity in each half-hour period. As demand rises relative to supply, prices tend to increase (sometimes rapidly), and vice versa. As the wholesale price (spot price) of electricity can be volatile, generators and retailers enter into financial contracts (hedge contracts) outside the pool. The financial contracts allow generators and retailers to manage the risks associated with fluctuations in half-hourly spot prices.

The spot prices are shown in date order from left to right across the graph shown in Figure 5. Therefore, a lower spot price will result in an increased retail discount, for example as is shown on 1 January 2010. However, an increase in spot prices, for example as shown on 1 1 January 2010, will increase the base price 34 thereby to increase the commodity sale price 28 resulting in a lower retail discount 30 on that particular day. However, as the commodity sale price 28 is calculated over a predetermined period of time, daily fluctuations will be evened out resulting in the retail discount 30 shown in Figure 4. The discount factor 26 can also be calculated relative to the remainder of the deposit 24 and the commodity usage 42 of the user. This will allow the discount factor to be specifically tailored to each customer in light of the remainder of the deposit is maintained by the customer and the usage habits of the user. An example of such a calculation follows immediately below. Further Example of Calculations

In this formulation the discount factor 26 is calculated relative to the remainder of the deposit 24 and the commodity usage 42 of the user. In one example, the calculation factors in the price 48 per MWh of electric power for a given customer on a given day, taking into account the customer's deposit level 24, as well as the average NEM price on that day and the average retail rate 32 per MWh.

Input parameters: LRET, multiplied by 100%; and an added buffering percentage (currently 100%):

BPT= (NEM + NEM ^■ HedgingPercentage + LRET) ^■ (100% + Buffer Percentage)

ARR Average Retail Rate for 1 MWh of electric power

Deposit Deposited amount as percentage of customer's expected cost p.a.

Output:

Price Customer charge for 1 MWh of electric power

Requirements: · Price should never be more than ARR

• Generally, Price should be more than BPT, except if this would lead to Price

being more than ARR

• Development of Price over time should roughly follow the variations of the

NEM price

· In the interval between 25% and 200%, an increase in Deposit should lead

to a decrease in Price. This difference in the discount given should be relatively large for Deposit, between 25% and 100%, and small for Deposit over 100%.

• For Deposit less than 25%, Price should be equal to ARR; for Deposit greater than 200%, the same discount applies as for 200%.

Outline of formulation:

In calculating the price, two weighted components are added to the BPT to work out the customer price: i. A fixed percentage of the current BPT ("Add-on profit margin"). Discounts

are applied to this add-on margin. This approach ensures that the resulting price follows the ups and downs of the NEM price. However, in the case of a low BPT, the added margin is also small in absolute terms. A percentage of the difference between the current ARR and BPT ("Difference calculation"), decreased by the discount factor derived from Deposit.

This allows one to take advantage of the large margin between ARR and BPT in the event of low NEM prices. At the same time, it means that variations in the NEM price are evened out for the most part. Implementation:

The following formula is used to calculate Price when Deposit is between 25% and 200% (see below for an explanation of the additional parameters):

Price = BPT+ (w ^■ (ARR - BPT) + (1 - w) · AddOn ^■ BPT)- DF(Deposit) , with the discount factor DF defined as

(DMax-DMin) ^■ Spread f Spread + 1.75

DF(Deposit) 1 + 1 - DMax .

1.75 Spread + Deposit J

The construction of the function DF ensures that the discount factor is 1 - DMin when Deposit = 25% , and 1 - DMax when Deposit = 200% . These two points are interpolated with a hyperbola, whose curvature depends on the Spread parameter.

Additional parameters:

calculated based only on the difference of ARR and BPT, without any Add-on component.

Therefore, the smaller w is, the closer Price follows

BPT, a large w ensures a reasonable margin when

the NEM price is low.

AddOn Percentage of BPT to be used for Add-on profit > 0

margin before discount.

DMin Minimal discount percentage, applied for the 0 < DMin≤ DMc

minimum deposit, i.e. when Deposit = 25%

DMax Maximal discount percentage, applied for a deposit DMin < DMax <

of 200% or more.

Spread Determines how evenly the discounts increase with Strictly > 0

the deposited amount. For small Spread, the

discount increases sharply when Deposit is for

example increased from 25% to 50%, but only

marginally when Deposit varies between 100% to

200%. When Spread f is large, the discount increases

more evenly with increased Deposit.

The effects of the above formulation are shown graphically in Figure 7.

A practical example of the use of the above formulation is shown in the spreadsheet in Figures 8 to 12. In Figure 8 the deposit 22 maintained is set at 25%, in Figure 9 at 50%, in Figure 10 at 75%, in Figure 1 1 at 100%, and in Figure 12 at 200%. It is clear when comparing, for example the first quarters of each spreadsheet, that the top-up needed on the deposit 22 reduces as the deposit amount maintained increases. Furthermore, comparing the usage, for example, of the 1 ^st and 4 ^th quarters it is clear that lowering the electricity usage causes a further reduction in the top-up required to maintain the set percentage of the deposit, i.e. either 25%, 50%, 75%, 100% or 200%. The user can therefore visually determine what deposit is best suited for his/her needs and what possible adjustment to electricity usage could be made to further obtain a reduced rate on the electricity cost.

Use of formulations

Once the current retailer customer's MRD has cleared to the account, the deposited funds are reconciled to the Customer's Account Unique Identifier (CAUI). The CAUI is displayed on customers account (viewed on the online account through the user interface 20 and issued statement) as higher the account balance Electricity Credits (EC). In the illustrated example, credits are in currency value of system or are assigned to the customer's account using a ratio of 1 :1 so that the dollar amount for the deposit 22 will be converted to an EC value. The method of providing a commodity could therefore include the following benefits:

• The higher the account balance EC relative to the AEU the greater the discount/savings.

• Members can therefore maintain their EC and account status or;

· Increase their EC and therefore increase their discount factor %.

• A maximum of 200% of the MDR results in a maximum discount factor.

• Additional EC purchased and maintained above the 100% of MDR are rewarded by bonus EC.

• A minimum of a determined amount which in this case is 25 % must be maintained for an account to stay in an 'Active' Status.

Members can also use up their EC should the member wish, however once EC are depleted below the 25% of AEU the account defaults to 'Passive' Status at which the account is at the EBA minimum discount on the determined scale, the member must replenish the EC to the 100% or more of MDR before the account be considered 'Active' again. User Interface 20 - Internet Account Access

Customers have the option to access to their account online via a secure portal.

In one example, the user interface 20 will allow the user to view the following: · Their current higher the account balance electricity credit (EC) &

AUD balance

• Their current discount rate (bar indicator -Red to Green)

• The number of 'days remaining' that they currently have higher the account balance - calculated by dividing AEU by 365 days and the number of EC (changes daily relative the WEPI) -Wholesale

Electricity Price Index

• Their current, quarterly and annual average usage (Daily based on WEPI)

The customer has the option of reading self the electricity meter. This can be done using a phone application to self-read/report meter usage. The self- report read will be conducted via a photo of the meter reading. The application uses GPS Geo-peg data and time stamp data to verify authenticity of read. The photo is sent by MMS for capture on the host computer system 40 and in the Billing Software system. Once the customer performs an image upload, software of the host computer system determines the data of the image and displays the usage from last read and forecasts expected AEU.

The host computer system 40 therefore outputs details through a user interface 20 which allows each of the plurality of users to determine, for each periodical interval such as daily, the wholesale commodity purchase price, the commodity sale price and the industry standard price thereby allowing the user to visually determine the discount factor and the retail discount received by a respective user for each day over the predetermined period of usage time and thereby allowing the user to make adjustments to the deposit to maximise the retail discount received. An example of the output is shown in Figure 5 in which graphs are used to indicate the commodity sale price 28, the industry-standard or first purchase price 32, and the base price. The graphical user interface allows the user to visually determine the discount factor 26 and the retail discount 30. The user interface therefore assists the user in determining what adjustments are needed in order to maximise the retail discount received. It can therefore be seen that the user interface is not merely a display but a tool which assists the user in visually determining the effectiveness of the deposit thereby to determine whether adjustments to the deposit, for example increasing the deposit from 100% to 200%, or adjustments in electricity usage in order to maximise the retail discount received. It can therefore be seen that the invention could provide a method of providing a commodity which allows a deposit to be used to pay for usage of the commodity during a predetermined time as well as selecting a discount factor which is used to calculate a commodity sale price.

While we have described herein a particular embodiment of a Method of Providing a Commodity, it is further envisaged that other embodiments of the invention could exhibit any number and combination of any one of the features previously described. However, it is to be understood that any variations and modifications which can be made without departing from the spirit and scope thereof are included within the scope of this invention as defined in the following claims.