Public Utility Companies as Information Hubs | What We Can Learn from the ‘Stadtwerke Lemgo’
In recent QLab-blog articles, we discussed how German public utility companies (PUCs) drive the energy transition. One method is establishing one-stop shops that inform customers and households about the feasibility of private investments in renewables and the progress of municipalities’ energy transitions. Read more: What is a one-stop shop?
Why public energy distributors are vital stakeholders in the energy transition
In Germany, energy is distributed through the networks of municipal public utility companies (PUCs; German: Stadtwerke). While smaller Stadtwerke buy the lawfully determined energy mix from producers, mainly via the European Energy Exchange in Leipzig (DE), the larger cities’ Stadtwerke only provides the network for energy coming directly from various producers.
Read more: How Public Utility Companies May Propel the Energy Transition and What Hinders Them to Reach Their Full Potential.
In Germany alone, there are about 900 PUCs, most catering to small municipalities. Many experience similar issues of skilled-worker shortages and struggle to reach and motivate young professionals to work in the public sector. In the light of the energy transition, recent price hikes, and potentially imminent gas shortages, the need for up-to-date experts becomes even more pressing.
In competition with private companies, public utility companies of smaller municipalities may face even more disadvantages than the PUCs of larger cities due to their more limited capacity. So, how can smaller PUCs reach their customers and appeal to young professionals by positioning themselves as progressive and, thus, prestigious energy transition specialists?
Today, we’ll examine the German PUC of the relatively small University town of Lemgo in North Rhine-Westphalia for their one-stop shop initiative. Specifically, we’ll pick apart what aspect may inspire the field to follow their lead and which could be improved to be yet more effective.
Comprehensive content: Conveying that clients can rely on your PUC in all energy-related matters
Servicing a small town of 41.000 inhabitants, the Stadtwerke Lemgo provides comprehensive information on many topics of interest to their customers. Featuring the one-stop shop right on their landing page, visitors can calculate prices for energy and gas based on their household’s or company’s size, annual consumption, and whether they operate green energy or car charging applications. Pricing information is thus easily accessible.
The main menu provides information concerning energy supply, electric vehicles (EV), including bonus options, funding issues related to the renewable energy law, the changes coming up when this federal bonus program ends, alternative heating applications, parking, and construction. Clients thus find a comprehensive web environment that addresses many of their needs, which is a great way to increase their trust in their PUCs’ services.
Moreover, young qualification seekers are addressed directly in the second element following the landing page header, linking to an overview of open entry-level positions. Regardless of the rather comic design, the effort indicates that the Stadtwerke Lemgo addresses the challenges of skilled-worker shortages.
Accessibility is key: How public utilities can make information hubs appeal to their audiences
Despite its benefits, the homepage of the Stadtwerke Lemgo leaves some needs unaddressed, mainly accessibility- and reach-related. For instance, all content is only available in German, even though the German reading and writing skills of almost every 10th adult in Germany are insufficient. Even though this proportion may be lower in Lemgo due to the fewer international residents compared to the region’s average, any PUC should be attentive to make their information accessible to as many as possible. Providing a multilingual website is an easy way to accommodate and inform more households.
Further, the landing page does not address young professionals who have already completed a specialized qualification program and would be ready to start working for the PUC. The Stadtwerke Lemgo may have reasons to only directly address undergraduates looking for a first qualification. However, appealing to qualified young workers may be a priority for many PUCs, given the acute shortage of skilled workers whose qualifications include digitalization competencies.
Related to this issue is the limitation of the Stadtwerke Lemgo content to social media that caters primarily to their millennial and Gen X audience: Facebook and YouTube. That is, Facebook is widely unpopular with Gen Z, which prefers Instagram and TikTok.
Therefore, to effectively address and reach younger audiences, who are their future professionals, PUCs should diversify their social media presence. Recycling informative one-stop-shop content across platforms is efficiently manageable through content management applications. Without a doubt, even on TikTok, you can reach your younger audiences with appealing content that does not feature silly dances.
Looking further: Comparing major German PUCs with Lemgo’s efforts
While the shortcomings discussed above are understandable given the small size of Lemgo and their Stadtwerke, finding similar issues on the website of the PUCs of Hamburg, Bremen, Munich, and Berlin is straight-up astonishing, given that their audiences are substantially larger and more international. Even though some offer a more diverse selection of social media channels than Lemgo, only the PUC of Munich features an English website hidden in their footer menu. As it seems, most German PUCs fail to address migrating professionals and residents who don’t speak German well.
Take-away and outlook
PUCs can inform their customers and the municipality’s citizenry in manifold ways and simultaneously increase their customers’ confidence in energy-related issues. Many German PUCs already offer comprehensive information hubs on their websites, but often only in German and through a limited selection of social media platforms. In the coming weeks, the QLab will examine how many German PUCs offer multilingual websites and social media channels that reach young professionals effectively and publish the results through this publication.
In collaboration with other PUCs and external experts, easy-access, multilingual, multichannel one-stop shops may be a feasible addition to many PUCs’ service portfolios. The QLab is one of those experts. We recently concluded a consultancy project with a German PUC and made the results accessible here, and we are specialized in building one-stop information shops. Check our website to learn how we do it: How we work: The Design Sprint.
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Finn Faust, Webdesign & Research at QLab Think Tank GmbH
