Energy & Utilities
Digital customer platforms and AI for energy and utility companies
Grapefruit builds customer portals, apps, education platforms and AI data products for energy suppliers, grid operators and energy traders. We designed CEZ's customer experience across portal, app and kiosks, built and run despre-energie.ro for E.ON and Delgaz Grid, and built the interface of the Ogre.ai forecasting platform. As part of RCI Holding, we work alongside energy and infrastructure specialists.
Clients in energy & utilities
- CEZ
- E.ON Energie Romania
- Delgaz Grid
- Ogre.ai
- PPC
- visitors
- 700k+visitors
- pieces of editorial content published
- 800+pieces of editorial content published
Challenges
What energy & utilities teams are up against
Self-service after liberalisation
Liberalised markets mean customers compare offers, switch suppliers and expect to manage contracts, readings and bills online. Portals that are hard to use drive calls, complaints and churn.
Complex topics, confused customers
Tariffs, regulated components, prosumer rules and grid work are hard to explain. Suppliers and grid operators need content and tools that make the sector understandable to millions of people.
Operational data that goes unused
Production, consumption and price data accumulate across systems, but forecasting and decisions still rely on spreadsheets and analyst time.
Tenders, regulation and reputation
Energy companies buy through tenders, answer to regulators and are scrutinised by the public. Partners must document security and deliver on fixed milestones.
What we build
What we build for energy & utilities
Customer portals and apps
Self-service for contracts, readings, bills and payments across web, mobile and kiosks.
Product Design →Consumer education platforms
Content platforms that explain energy topics and build trust at national scale.
Digital Marketing →Forecasting and data dashboards
Interfaces that make production, consumption and price forecasts usable.
Analytics & Dashboards →Customer journey mapping
Switching, onboarding and complaint journeys mapped and redesigned.
Customer Journey Mapping →
AI use cases
Where AI helps in energy & utilities
Energy forecasting products
in productionProblem: Producers, suppliers and distributors need accurate production and demand forecasts to trade and plan.
Approach: Machine learning forecasts delivered through dashboards designed for traders and operators; we built the interface and dashboards of the Ogre.ai platform.
Customer service assistant for bills, contracts and switching
pilotProblem: Contact centres handle high volumes of repetitive questions about bills, tariffs and procedures.
Approach: An assistant grounded in approved tariff and procedure content, integrated into the portal with hand-off to agents.
Document intelligence for connections and permitting
emergingProblem: Connection requests, permits and contracts involve long documents reviewed manually.
Approach: AI extracts, checks and summarises key fields and deadlines for staff review.
Regulatory and ESG reporting drafts
emergingProblem: Reporting teams compile narrative reports from structured data under tight deadlines.
Approach: Drafts generated from validated data sources, with every figure traceable and reviewed by the reporting team.
Not sure where to start? An AI Opportunity Scan ranks use cases by value and risk, or take the free AI assessment.
Proof
Energy & Utilities case studies
CEZ · Energy & Utilities
CEZ: one design system across customer portal, mobile app and info-kiosks
Read the case study →
E.ON Energie Romania · Energy & Utilities
700k+ visitors
E.ON: despre-energie.ro reached 700k+ visitors with 800+ pieces of energy content
Read the case study →
Ogre.ai · Energy & UtilitiesAI
Ogre.ai: UX, UI and front-end that took an AI energy forecasting MVP to a stable platform
Read the case study →700k+ visitors
“Moreover, Grapefruit’s team came up with creative and practical solutions that were cost-effective and got us great results. Communication was always clear and efficient. They delivered exactly what we wanted and met our established KPIs.”
Energy & Utilities: frequently asked questions
How do you design self-service that reduces calls?
We start from contact-centre data to find the most frequent reasons customers call, map those journeys and redesign them in the portal and app: readings, bills, payments, contract changes and switching. Success is measured by self-service completion and call deflection, not page views.
How do you explain complex energy topics to consumers?
With content strategy, plain language and a clear editorial plan. Despre-energie.ro, which we have built and run for E.ON Energie Romania and Delgaz Grid since 2020, has published more than 800 articles, analyses and guides and attracted more than 700,000 visitors.
What was Grapefruit's role in the Ogre.ai forecasting platform?
Ogre.ai is a B2B platform that uses AI and machine learning to forecast energy demand and prices. Since 2020 Grapefruit has owned its user experience, interface design and front-end code, including the data-heavy dashboards, and helped take it from MVP to a stable platform. The forecasting models are Ogre.ai's own.
Can you respond to public or private tenders?
Yes. We prepare tender documentation, security and compliance information and delivery plans, and as part of RCI Holding we can build consortia with engineering and energy specialists when a project needs both digital and domain expertise.
Where should an energy company start with AI?
Where data already exists and value is measurable: forecasting, customer service over tariff and procedure content, and document-heavy processes. An AI Opportunity Scan ranks use cases by value, data readiness and EU AI Act risk, and ends in a 90-day roadmap.
Talk to our energy & utilities team
Share your challenge and timeline. A senior specialist who knows your sector replies with a clear next step.
We reply within 1 business day, usually the same day. Not ready to talk? Take the free AI assessment.