dutch utility bets its future on an unusual strategy: selling less power - battery power storage

AMSTERDAM —
When Eneco, a large Dutch utility, tested a promising energy monitor in dozens of homes, the situation wouldn't get worse.
Companies that make these devices fail to provide enough equipment, some of which do not work.
But when Eneco sent the workers to restore the monitor, something strange happened --
One in ten customers refused to open the door.
"They want to keep it," said Tako of former Eneco executive't Veld, who now leads Quby's "smart energy" division, the company that makes electric energy meters.
"They are very happy with the energy insights.
The 2010 test was part of Eneco's efforts to adapt to the turmoil in the energy market.
Large amounts of wind and solar energy in recent years
Power generation destroys the economy of traditional power plants and provides a future outline of the traditional power plants that no longer supply most of the power of the family.
Through Acquisition (
Including Quby)
By nurturing a group of startup teams
Eneco seeks to provide new services to customers through ups and other initiatives
In doing so, enter new industries such as charging electric vehicles and repairing solar panels.
"We say we have to increase customer loyalty by doing something different," said Hans Valk, Quby's chief executive and former leader of the Eneco consumer business . ".
"We are trying to move from selling pure goods to selling energy in the form of services.
For example, Eneco has an electric vehicle charging unit, Jedlix, which has a partnership with Tesla and BMW, and when there is a lot of renewable energy supply on the grid, owners can charge their vehicles at a low price.
Jedlix even pays them sometimes.
Eneco has also started a business called CrowdNett, which, unusually, has paid some power to its customers.
Eneco looks for people who already have solar panels at home and tries to sell them large home batteries like Tesla Powerwall.
The remaining power generated by the solar panel is stored in the battery and Eneco is connected to a part of that storage to help balance the grid.
Customers will receive € 450, or $530 per year, for the use of batteries.
Eneco's leaders acknowledge that they are doing more through trial and error than following the grand plan.
Nevertheless, over time, these efforts may contribute to the survival of the company and help create ways to help consumers shift to cleaner energy.
"They are very avant-garde --
From the perspective of strategy and thinking --
Roberta bigelini, vice president of market research firm IDC, said.
However, if Eneco's experiment fails, "they certainly won't run in the future," she said.
So far, experiments with its walls
The installed energy monitor, known as Toon, is one of its more successful products.
The utility was locked in profit when Eneco first considered testing
Fierce competition with competitors to lower power and gas prices while offering contracted gifts to customers.
Seeing signs of danger, Eneco's management sees the need for a radical change.
Toon provides Eneco with an opportunity to change the route, and although Eneco had problems early on, it expanded the scope of promotion.
Electricity Meters allow customers to control their home heating settings through a smartphone app, and they have displays that display power and gas consumption in detail, as well as other information such as weather forecasts.
Just like the phone company offers discounted equipment for a longer period of time
Term contract, Toon is usually part of a utility contract;
Eneco customers pay 3 euros.
The meter is 50 a month.
In return, customers say it helps them save energy and offers the dual benefits of saving money and reducing greenhouse gas emissions from climate change.
Quby says it has placed more than 300,000 Toons in Dutch homes and has reached deals to provide these devices to other utilities, such as Engie in Belgium and Engie in Spain
At home in north Amsterdam, a cartoon hangs on the wall of Marco Westlink's living room.
In an interview in his garden, the graphic designer said: "It's always there like my big brother, and it's always staring at me . " He overlooks a canal.
"You can call it annoying, but it makes you fully aware of it. ”Mr.
He lived in a comfortable century with his wife.
Krommenie's old house estimates that Toona has helped them cut their annual energy bills by nearly three times, about 2,000 euros.
His wife, Karin Krol, says Toona is also helping their families cope with climate change.
"We believe small things can change the environment," she said . "
According to Quby, the average annual energy consumption of those who sign up for the cartoon is reduced by about a tenth.
Lower energy consumption does not seem necessarily in the interest of Eneco, but it believes that any loss of revenue will be offset by the growth of its service business. (
The company did not provide details of its services in public documents. )
Eneco can already monitor the performance of natural gas boilers and solar panels through Toons and dispatch maintenance personnel when the equipment needs to be repaired. And, as Mr.
Quby chief Valk had hoped that the devices would help reduce the number of customers Eneco leaves to other providers by 60%, the company said. Mr.
Valk's vision for the future is for customers to pay for a variety of services, not for kilowatts of energy.
Unlike today's dominant source of electricity, wind and solar energy are basically free once equipment is installed.
So, "You have to pay for the flexibility, not the neutron ,"Valk said.
Eneco has also invested heavily in wind power, in part to ensure that the electricity from eco-friendly customers comes from cleaner energy sources.
Dividends paid: 10-
One-year contract for clean energy for Google
Last year, the hungry data storage center opened in Elmshaven, north of the Netherlands.
Most of Eneco's strategy is in its infancy.
Battery storage service CrowdNett has only dozens of customers, but the company has huge ambitions for the move.
If enough battery owners log in, Eneco says, it can use software to electronically aggregate and sell power, like traditional utilities.
Daan Berkouwer, who works for a water management company, said the combination of fiscal incentives and emission reduction commitments helped him decide to buy a kind of lozenges
Tesla Powerwall battery used with CrowdNett.
"Oil companies can stop producing when everyone does that," 27-year-old Mr.
Berkouwer and his wife live in the outskirts of Gurda, a town known for its cheese.
"If you can do this with clean energy, why take all the oil out and destroy the planet?