WEL done:

HubSpot enables New Zealand’s first automated solar and battery approval system.

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1-2 wks to 5 mins

Slashed application processing time

 

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50 to 12 inputs

Simplified customer data inputs on application forms

 

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100% to 30%

Transformed manual approval requirements

 

HubSpot Products:

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Smart CRM
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Content Hub
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Service Hub
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Data Hub
AI

The Client

WEL Networks

WEL Networks (WEL) provides the electricity distribution network in the Waikato region of New Zealand, serving over 100,000 residential and business connections. Acknowledged as a leader in the sector, WEL delivers innovative and sustainable energy solutions and invests in new technologies that are transforming its network and enabling its communities to thrive.

The Challenge

Manual inefficiencies

WEL was looking at ways to improve New Zealand’s low residential solar uptake. Demand was growing but barriers to getting started made it difficult for end customers.

A distributed generation (DG) application process to gain consent to connect solar, batteries or any form of distributed generation to the network, had been in place for a decade and was slow and largely manual. This created an inefficient and frustrating process for customers and large manual workloads for internal WEL staff.

WEL’s Project Lead Craig Marshall says, “With the growing demand for solar and batteries, we wanted to look at how we could improve and automate the process, make it capable of handling more applications with less effort and improve the customer experience.”

“We were seeing growth and more applications coming through and it had got to the point where we were needing to throw more resources at it to scale things effectively. We weren’t getting great customer feedback, it was slow to handle applications - we knew we needed to provide a better experience and speed up the process but with less effort, not more.” says Craig.

“We were seeing growth and more applications coming through and it had got to the point where we were needing to throw more resources at it to scale. We weren’t getting great customer feedback, it was slow to handle applications - we knew we needed to provide a better experience and speed up the process but with less effort not, more.”
Craig

Craig Marshall

Project Lead, WEL Networks

The Solution

The beauty of simplicity

Having previously partnered with Concentrate using HubSpot, WEL had confidence to explore building a new DG application solution in HubSpot.

WEL and Concentrate collaborated closely to develop a system design across both ≤10kW and >10kW applications. A proof of concept was developed using HubSpot landing pages and legacy forms to simulate a multi-step application process, capturing dynamic inverter and battery details from customers and solar retailers.

From there, the team produced a high-level CRM mapping (see Diagram 1), alongside detailed requirement specifications, data mapping plans, testing plans, user training documentation, and a go-live rollout plan.

WEL Network - High Level System Diagram - V3 High Level Data Model
Diagram 1
WEL High Level System Design

Key solution components included:

  • HubSpot CRM as the core platform for managing the DG application process, demonstrating expertise in CRM setup, custom properties, workflows, and pipeline design.
  • Portals in HubSpot Content Hub for customers and solar installers, leveraging development tools and frameworks to deliver a seamless user experience.
  • HubSpot Service Hub to manage all applications as tickets, with two dedicated pipelines for ≤10kW and >10kW applications, and connected the shared inbox so the DG team can monitor and respond to customer queries in one place.
  • Simplified customer application forms, minimising manual data entry and using verification techniques to improve accuracy.
  • Leveraged HubSpot Data Hub extensively, using custom-coded actions and JavaScript to power the end-to-end automation and data flows that drive the entire application process.
  • Built a MuleSoft-led integration layer with HubSpot Data Hub, routing all Esri, GIS and ICP registry data into HubSpot. This was important to validate applications with real-time feedback, check assets, and verify smart meters.
  • Streamlined workflows, ticket routing, and automated notifications to improve efficiency and transparency for customers, installers and internal teams.
  • Comprehensive reporting and dashboards providing visibility for WEL Networks’ asset and technology teams.

Internal and external AI tooling

The development team used AI notetakers and Gemini during the requirements phase, and ChatGPT to troubleshoot the solution and implementation process.

HubSpot’s AI description generator created clear, relevant descriptions for workflows and reports, improving clarity, speeding up documentation, and reducing manual effort.

“Concentrate were great at coming up with solutions to the problems we threw at them. We were trying to do something really different. HubSpot didn’t have some of this out of the box, and they were good at finding a way to deliver.”
Craig

Craig Marshall

Project Lead, WEL Networks

Solar Energy

Results

This deployment demonstrates world-class technical expertise extending HubSpot to achieve an industry-first outcome that fundamentally changes how a regional utility operates and serves its customers.  In addition to faster project delivery, the following key results have been achieved:

 

Key Results

66% automatic approval rate (from 0%)

Two-thirds of applications are being automatically approved, slashing engineer workloads and giving customers a far better experience.

Near instant approval times

For that 66%, approval times have reduced from 1–2 weeks to around 5 minutes. Those not automatically approved also experience faster approval times averaging less than one day as engineers have lower application loads.

Customer satisfaction significantly increased

WEL now offers free applications with instant approvals for ≤10kW applications, compared with the industry norm of requiring payment of an application fee before any application processing. With automation, WEL have been able to make these applications free of charge.

Impact and outcomes

The impact of this technical implementation establishes a new industry benchmark. By integrating HubSpot with critical network data, WEL achieved its goal of becoming an enabler for the country's renewable energy transition. “We are now no longer the bottleneck but the enabler of solar connections,” says Craig.

The system delivered immediate and massive quantifiable results:

  • Decrease in approval times for customers
  • Decrease in workload for WEL engineers and the internal team freeing them up for higher value tasks
  • Increase in data quality with registry, validation checks and less customer inputs
  • Reinforced WEL’s industry leadership with an innovative, leading solution
Craig concludes, “There are 29 EDBs in NZ and they aren’t competitors; they’re peers. We’re thinking about how we can share this IP and help them also deliver a better customer experience — a great win for the industry and for solar in NZ.”
Craig

Craig Marshall

Project Lead, WEL Networks