Customer orientation and satisfaction

The values of continuity, reliability, safety, sustainability and transparency are of great importance for the customers and all other stakeholders of Energie AG and therefore an inseparable component of the corporate strategy. In light of unpredictable crisis events – such as the COVID-19 pandemic – these values have gained enormous importance.

Energie AG Group aims at increasing the regional value creation and generating additional meaningful value for the stakeholders in line with their expectations and interests (incl. through digital and affordable and energy-efficient products and services).

Energie AG takes its function as a role model in terms of social responsibility very seriously and fulfills this role by pro-actively taking initiative and supporting charitable organisations.

The Group considers the raising of an awareness for a sensible and considerate treatment of energy resources and the value of a sustainable circular economy to be one of its most important responsibilities in the area of social affairs. The educational programme “Energie AG at School” is intended to gently introduce even the youngest members of society to a constructive and critical engagement with these issues.

Energie AG contributes its solid know-how to the scientific discourse about the creation of a sustainable energy future, as well as in the form of feasible and realistic approaches to solutions that contribute to bringing the energy transition 2030 to life.

Social engagement during and after the COVID-19 pandemic

Energie AG has proven itself as a strong and reliable partner for its stakeholders not only during the COVID-19 pandemic. Under the campaign motto “100% for Upper Austria”, the Group is once again seeking to convey stability, security, and its initiative for regional value creation in the 2020/2021 fiscal year. To inform and sensitise employees with regard to the COVID-19 vaccination, Energie AG organised a virtual discussion with a leading medical expert from Kepler University Hospital in spring of 2021. The Group set up its own vaccination centre for employees in summer 2021.

In order to further fulfil its supply and waste management mandate and at the same time protect the health of its customers and employees, the internal task force with experienced members of the crisis management team was permanently monitoring the daily situation in order to develop any necessary resulting measures and coordinate their implementation across the whole Group in clearly organised processes. At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, around 1,450 employees in Austria were ordered to switch to working from home for the sake of their own safety. For the same reason, specific shift and work time models were developed for those employees whose presence on-site was absolutely necessary. In order to warrant the apprenticeship and continued professional development programmes during the COVID-19 pandemic, seminars were held both virtually and in person – in line with the relevant safety and hygiene requirements.

Employees involved in team work that does not allow for the prescribed minimum distance between two persons were provided with adequate personal protective equipment and clothing.

Customers who were facing difficulties due to the pandemic were offered special arrangements, e.g. a moratorium on electricity disconnections and the option to defer due payments.

The COVID-19 safety measures in the Czech Republic complicated the works related to the supply of customers with water and heat. Some projects in 2020/2021 fiscal year had to be postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Comprehensive precautions aimed at managing the COVID-19 pandemic were implemented across the entire Energie AG Group.

The further intensification of the stakeholder dialogue, incl. by directly involving customers in strategy and development processes, is intended to contribute to products and services that are even more in line with the interests and requirements of the different target groups.

Customer satisfaction is also increased by an open and transparent communication (public participation), initiatives for clean and "affordable energy for everyone"c, the further streamlining of administrative processes, the comfortable access to digital services, and uncomplicated and rapid fault repair services.

A consistent focus on the wishes and needs of present and potential customers, as well as on their satisfaction, is the foundation for strategic action in all Group companies.

Fostering a lively dialogue with customers is a core pillar of the Group's activities in Austria. A customer forum introduced in 2019 serves to develop a better understanding for the customers' perspective and integrate that perspective into the development of products and services. The virtual meetings held in the 2020/2021 fiscal year led to in-depth discussions with customers about the new online service platform of Energie AG, which was introduced in the autumn of 2020, and new product models (“smart tariffs”). “My Bonus”, the customer club for Energie AG customers, was launched in late 2020. This separate members-only area provides customers with online access to specific services and products that are often available exclusively from Energie AG. The external input received from the stakeholder dialogue allowed for the addition of complementary functions to these online services, which provided an additional boost to customer acceptance.

Energie AG's portfolio of digital services was complemented with additional innovative applications that assist customers in making economical use of energy and gaining access to electricity from renewable sources. These applications include the E-Fairteiler app for the distribution of regionally and privately produced solar electricity, as well as the development of a WiFi reader unit for smartphones that can detect energy-wasting household appliances.

Due to the energy saving trade fair being cancelled, the first digital advisory week was held in March 2021. This gave customers the opportunity to consult with experts available online with regard to various energy-related questions. A total of 1,000 advisory appointments were offered.

Energie AG responds to the increasing consumer demand for online services by expanding the fibre-optic network in urban and rural areas. 13,166 customers were already actively using the high-speed internet service offered by Energie AG as of 30 September 2021.

Other initiatives in the 2020/2021 fiscal year were pursuing the goal of making the interaction with Energie AG as easy as possible for customers. The (previously separate) data of electricity and gas customers was merged in a new joint eService portal for Netz OÖ GmbH. Additional value for customers from streamlined processes is also expected from the large-scale harmonisation of the internal IT system landscape in the processing of customer data across multiple product categories. The integration of the gas business in the spring of 2021 was a decisive step.

The ongoing evaluation of customer requirements identified an increased need for digital contact options as well as an elevated price sensitivity. Energie AG is supporting the goal of “affordable energy for everyone”, e.g. by offering product combinations at discounted prices.

“Branchen-Monitor 2021”, one of the biggest nationwide online customer satisfaction surveys in Austria and conducted by Gesellschaft für Verbraucherstudien GmbH (ÖGSV), has distinguished Energie AG as “Industry Champion 2021” in the customer service category.

Ongoing monitoring and permanent professional development initiatives help to ensure high-quality customer relationship management, whether over the phone, in person, or online.

Digitalisation: a powerful asset

Energie AG places a focus on the digitalisation of services, processes and customer interaction along the entire value chain. One of the objectives of the digitalisation measures is to offer customers flexible, individual, and straight-forward options to get in contact with Energie AG.

Subject to the general conditions under data protection law, data analytics enable quicker and more efficient decision-making processes. The additional insights gained about the needs of customers are utilised to develop and design products and services. The combination of customer data from the electricity, gas, heat and telecommunication sectors allows the Group to offer a better service “from a single source”.

The customer portals of Netz OÖ GmbH were merged and harmonised in terms of their functions in fiscal year 2020/2021. The new and revised customer portal now allows grid customers to review and administer the data of their electricity and gas connections.

The digitalisation in the Waste Management Segment launched Austria's first waste management online shop back in 2012 (containerdienst24.at). This internet portal enables customers across Austria to order containers for clearing out bulky refuse, gardening waste or construction rubble. A regional contact person is available for specific questions and clarifications. In 2016, this service was extended to existing business customers (customer portal for key account customers), who can now access waste management services, invoices, weighing and freight notices, and check on the status of their orders. Individually configurable authorisation settings can be used to allocate page- and location-specific permissions for employees. The customer portal enables a sustainable improvement of the waste management processes and simplifies the daily cooperation.

Customer Phone Service

A fundamental criterion for customer satisfaction is the rapid processing of enquiries received over the phone, which Energie AG handles with the help of customer service staff that has received extensive training and boasts strong communication skills. They are supported by artificial intelligence deployed for the automated processing of simple enquiries. An additional intelligent “peak management” allows for calls to be rescheduled to a less busy time of the day. This increases the availability for the customers and in turn also their satisfaction with the Company.

In the event of failures, which cause a substantial increase in calls from affected customers within a very short period of time, calls need to be answered and processed with rapid turnaround. With a flexible on-call service model for the customer service employees and a suitable infrastructure (remote work), even unpredictable and high call volumes can be managed.

To make the customer services more user-friendly, the harmonisation and merging of customer data in the grid area was followed up with a simplified telephone hotline for customers.

Introduction and Use of New Technologies

Energie AG is actively committed to introducing and using new technologies with a focus on the customer. Netz OÖ GmbH is among Europe’s leaders in large-scale smart metering. The intelligent electricity meters allow customers to precisely analyse and manage their energy consumption. A currently ongoing upgrade project aims at upgrading the smart meters with additional useful and pioneering functions. The proven overall system AMIS improves the quality of the electricity supply with different smart grid functions and consistently warrants availability levels above 99%. More information on smart metering can be found in the Group Management Report, Grid Segment.

Energie AG uses the new smart meter technology for developing new business models. Energie AG views smart electricity meters as the key component for turning a house into a “smart home”. Interaction between electricity meters and home automation systems facilitate a perfect use of energy, which users will be able to generate, purchase or store. This delivers cost savings, lower consumption and greater comfort for the customer. Smart meters are a prerequisite for the new market models and market roles introduced with the Renewable Energy Expansion Act package. Their benefits include, inter alia, consumption billing in renewable energy communities.

The Czech water investments have been using smart digital water meters for several years at this point. The digitalisation projects focus on smart metering in Beroun and smart metering and grid digitalisation in Kolin. Other studies on the digitalisation of control centres and operations as well as the development of a “digital twin” for a sewage treatment plant are ongoing. “Digital twins” are simulation models that e.g. digitally simulate the operation of a sewage treatment plant and test the effects of different measures taken within the simulation before they are implemented in live operations. Also see the Group Management Report, Czech Republic Segment.

Customer satisfaction surveys

Contact with customers and partners enables Energie AG to learn about their needs, concerns and ideas and to use these insights for the development of solutions for specific problems and the optimisation of processes. Complaint management is a key mechanism in this area. Together with Customer Service, the Group analyses the communications on a quarterly basis, evaluating the subject areas and using these as a basis to establish options for action. This includes the cooperation with social services for debt prevention and mitigation of debt-related problems by means of the energy solidarity budget and providing advice on how to reduce energy costs.

Public opinion research institutes are regularly commissioned to conduct market studies and customer surveys among various target groups as a due diligence measure to ensure customer satisfaction. Valuable information for the regular ascertainment of the most important key performance indicators and their development over time was once again collected through basic surveys conducted in fiscal year 2020/2021. Current key issues are queried and analysed continuously with the aim of optimising the positioning of specific offers – such as a rating of the quality of advice given during the digital advisory week, or the satisfaction and expectation of Energie AG's market partners.

The customers of Vertrieb GmbH (electricity, natural gas and internet) were found to exhibit a predominantly high loyalty: 95.9% of the customers, for example, are very satisfied or rather satisfied with our sales unit (previous year: 96.5%). Continually measuring loyalty levels in defined categories (e.g. product range, price communication, homepage, regional commitment etc.) provides specific focal points that allow the company to improve services on an ongoing basis.

The customer satisfaction survey conducted by Netz OÖ GmbH regarding gas grid operators in autumn of 2020 once again delivered a very good result. On par with previous years, the highest level of satisfaction was expressed for the availability of the gas supply, followed by the satisfaction with the technical expertise, keeping with agreed dates, and the performance of works and meter readings. A strong improvement over the previous year is reported for the satisfaction with customer focus, which has almost returned to the high level reported in the 2017/2018 fiscal year. Using a 1 to 5 scale based on Austria’s school marking system, Netz OÖ GmbH’s customers gave it excellent ratings for reliability (1.15, previous year 1.13), safety (1.24, previous year 1.32) and quality (1.28, previous year 1.32).

Annual customer satisfaction surveys are carried out at all the Waste Management Segment’s sites as well. These include a school marking-style assessment system, in which the segment received a 1.36 (previous year: 1.4) during the reporting period 2020/2021.

Online communication

Energie AG makes target group-specific information available via a number of different channels. This includes the traditional website of the Group www.energieag.at, the press portal news.energieag.at, the project websites www.wir-denken-an-morgen.at for children and adolescents, www.sportfamilie.at for sport enthusiasts, the blog pages (blog.energieag.at and hochspannungsblog.at), the Facebook page Energie AG – Wir denken an Morgen, the Instagram account energie.ag and the Instagram (energieagsportfamilie) and Facebook (Energie AG-Sportfamilie) accounts of the sports family. These services are complemented by additional websites for specific Energie AG products.

Energie AG offers functional self-service portals (especially in areas of mass customer demand) to meet customer needs and optimise customer service processes. These enable customers to independently deal with a number of tasks and issues relating to supply contracts with Energie AG at any time of day.