How an Energy Procurement Company Uses Low-Code to Help Consumers Save on Utilities

Energy costs have surged over the past decade.

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), residential electricity rates have climbed nationally from 10.49 cents per kWh in 2010 to 12.79 cents per kWh in 2020. That represents a 22% increase.

That’s why families and business owners are always on the lookout for ways to save on electricity. While purchasing energy-saving appliances or turning off lights when not in use helps, it’s also smart to hunt for the best deals on utilities in your area.

Using Caspio’s low-code platform, energy procurement firm EZ Electricity is helping homeowners and commercial building owners make strategic choices to cut down on energy costs.

Schedule a free demo to see how Caspio helps energy companies build custom database applications without coding.

Bringing Light and Hope to the Community

EZ Electricity helps consumers procure electricity and natural gas. A division of the bigger Brasovan Energy Solutions company, the “EZ” brand serves small commercial and residential customers.

With decades of energy-buying expertise, founder Mike Brasovan built the EZ model to help customers sort through energy providers in their area and find the best offers available. The company estimates that with EZ Electricity, customers save 20% to 30% on their monthly energy bills.

What makes EZ Electricity unique though is how they go beyond helping consumers save time and money. Powered by their “Save More, Give More” mentality, EZ Electricity partners with over 20 charities across Texas and donates one-third of their total income to help with various causes.

As a small company with a unique business model, they faced several operations-specific challenges, particularly with managing customer data.

That’s how Brasovan came to discover Caspio.

Overloaded With Online Database Requirements

The main problem he had to face was the lack of multi-user access to their database system. With numerous customers requiring their services, it was imperative for EZ Electricity to have an online database that allows multiple users to access information at the same time.

Aside from that, the company also needed to establish a strong online presence to serve customers more efficiently. This means reinforcing the way their website and other online channels work and enabling new users to sign up for their service through an online registration system.

All this, without having to hire expensive talent to do the coding for them.

Hampered by limited resources, Brasovan had to extend his role from managing operations into filling the gap in their IT department. He made it happen through Caspio’s online database platform.

“My favorite thing about Caspio is that it works,” he said.

Lowering Development Costs With Low-Code

“We started off as a very small company with very little capital,” Brasovan shared.

It’s understandable if the company didn’t have a large IT department, especially in Texas, where the average base salary of an IT technician is more than $60,000 annually, according to jobs site Indeed.

But even without hiring additional personnel, EZ Electricity was able to digitally enable their business with the help of Caspio.

Here’s how EZ Electricity did it:

Opted for an Online Database Platform

The company now manages their data on Caspio, inheriting all the reliability and security benefits of the online database platform. Caspio requires no installation or upkeep. It’s cloud-based and accessible via browsers. “We uploaded our initial database to Caspio and have been developing on the platform ever since,” Brasovan said.

Built an Online System Without Hiring More IT

Instead of hiring additional IT personnel to develop custom workflows and maintain web servers on-premises, Brasovan built online database apps using Caspio — even with no technical background in coding or infrastructure.

“We saved the cost of having an IT professional come in and spend one or two hours a month just maintaining our server,” he said.

Rapidly Deployed Applications

With Caspio’s industry-leading low-code platform, EZ Electricity quickly made improvements to their business applications, enhancing internal operations and customer experiences. “We can get applications up in production very quickly without having to worry about outsourcing or getting these queued into somebody else’s workflow,” Brasovan said.

Generate Positive Change Within Your Organization

EZ Electricity leveraged Caspio to establish a solid online presence for their customers and enable multiple users to access data simultaneously. They did it cost-effectively, without hiring additional staff.

Embraced by professionals for its ease of use and cost efficiency, Caspio enables companies of all sizes to create custom database applications without employing extra IT personnel. Even business developers who have no programming background are able to develop powerful applications, just like Brasovan.

Of course, EZ Electricity is not alone in aiming to operate as a capital-efficient business.

Other businesses within the larger ecosystem of the energy sector, including oil and gas companies, are striving for that goal. They’re also using Caspio to achieve it. J-W Power Company, which operates the largest privately owned compressed natural gas (CNG) compression fleet in the country, also leveraged Caspio to address the growing demand for digital capability tools. Despite a short-staffed IT team, they were able to build and deploy 15 applications within six months — without bringing in additional resources.

Discover more inspiring stories of energy sector companies using low-code development to digitally transform.

Inspired by how EZ Electricity and other businesses in the energy sector used Caspio to achieve their goals in no time?

Talk to us and we’ll help you discover the possibilities with low-code development. If you’re ready, schedule a demo and we’ll walk you through specific Caspio capabilities you can maximize for your energy business.