Energy suppliers rely on cooperation

Zurich - When looking for new cooperation partners, energy providers are increasingly thinking outside the box. According to EY's 2020 public utility study, they see the greatest potential for synergies in digital networking, in the housing industry and in the heating industry.

Increasing digitization and cross-sector cooperation are opening up new business areas for energy supply companies in Switzerland. According to the results of the 2020 municipal utility study by the consulting firm EY and the Federal Association of Energy and Water Management , 80 percent of energy providers see great synergy potential in telecommunications, 71 percent in the housing industry and 69 percent in the heating industry. According to a press release , the survey was carried out in Switzerland and Germany, among 49 EVUs across Switzerland.

According to a media release from EY, the potential for cooperation has increased again from the EVU's point of view: in 2019, only 50 percent saw great synergy potential in telecommunications and 67 percent in the housing industry. The heating industry was not queried at that time.

When looking for promising business models, EVUs would look even more outside the box in the future, says Benjamin Teufel, Head of the Energy Sector in Switzerland. “The housing industry in particular lends itself to being a cooperation partner: decentralized and climate-friendly energy solutions are becoming more and more important.” As EY explains in another article , platform transactions based on digital data are conceivable for the housing industry. "Stadtwerke are predestined to be the operator of these platforms," it says there.

A total of 71 percent of EVUs expect to be able to act as platform operators for decentralized electricity generation, 67 percent for electromobility and 71 percent for smart metering, i.e. the use of intelligent electricity meters. Accordingly, the 2020 municipal utility study also shows that 84 percent of energy providers consider smart metering to be the most important technology in digital transformation. "As a data hub, the smart meters will lead to numerous new applications, products and business models," Teufel is quoted as saying.

In the article “How municipal utilities can benefit from smart metering in the future”, EY explains: “The more companies use smart meter data for their business and the more these services can be networked with one another, the stronger the platform business will grow. Typically, the platform operator, in this case the municipal utility, participates in the transaction proceeds. "Mm