September 29, 2022 The average energy customer is quickly becoming fully awake to the necessity of energy usage insights, and they are not afraid to walk away from their providers if that option is not being handed to them. It’s no longer enough to just be ‘Smart’ Something that has become clear to me lately, is the realisation that the key to widespread customer engagement, and eventually monetisation, is to accept the wider audience and their needs. There is a lot of talk about ‘Smart solutions’ that can be ‘controlled’ and ‘always connected’ – but those solutions only speak to a small group of the wider audience. I believe an ideal solution provides equal value to my grandparents as to my tech-savvy son who can connect to a smart bulb quicker than I can say ‘where did we write down the wifi-password?’ What are we waiting for? Europe is installing smart meters at an impressive rate – enabling the energy transition to move faster than ever, with the average customer happily onboard. But this transition is not without its country-specific challenges, and this has been a hot topic, in some countries more than others. Let’s look at Germany. The smart meter rollout is partially halted due to the fact that metering devices need to be certified by the BSI and the certified meter then needs to be read by a certified metering company (BSI, 2022). This all makes sense, but many German households are currently on a contract provided by the grid operator, that might not yet have certified meters. Meaning that these households have to go without Smart energy insights. But, as I mentioned above. Customers are more switched ON (another pun, maybe intended this time) than ever, and they know their worth and are not afraid to walk. German customers can switch to metering companies. This is the key that German utilities are using to help their customers. As long as they get their customers to switch to a certified metering company, there is nothing standing in the way of that utility starting rolling out smart meters to their customers. By looking at solutions instead of problems, German utilities are being more innovative than ever. “It’s a problem to get metering data as a utility? – Not as long as you get customer consent” “It’s a problem to get a smart meter installed? – No. Because your customers can switch to another metering company that provides smart meters” Utilities that are applying this problem-solving mindset, are quickly getting ahead of the game, and keeping their customers happy and Switched ON. Eliq will join the Swedish-German Cleantech Platform visiting Thüringen, Bayern, Baden-Württemberg and Nordrhein-Westfalen from 10th to 14th of October. The plan is to talk to industry leaders and utilities who are doing everything in their power (no pun intended) to provide their customers with the tools they need to make intelligent decisions in these indecisive times. Are you one of the German industry leaders looking to provide your customers with actionable insights this winter? Let’s talk! Previous Next