Winning with Podero
oekostrom AG: delivering smarter energy for everyone with Podero.
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oekostrom AG is Austria’s largest independent supplier of electricity from 100% renewable sources. With more than 120,000 customers and over 40 clean power plants, the company has long been a trailblazer in the energy transition. They have launched citizen initiatives and pioneered green labels. Now, with Podero, they’re bringing dynamic, customer-controlled, renewable energy pricing to life.
At a glance
Rollout reduced customer electricity costs by up to 25%
>99% uptime for automated household device steering
4 months from pilot kick-off to new tariff launch
Second-largest product launch in company history
Product success alongside overall brand acquisition and retention ‘halo’
The challenge for oekostrom AG
More Austrian households are adopting electrification, solar and connected devices.
oekostrom AG’s brand is grounded in treating every customer as equally important. They pride themselves on an accessible tariff range that offers ‘something for everyone’. So oekostrom AG wanted to unlock this ‘smarter energy’ future in a way that could include everyone.
“We wanted to offer a new product tariff enabling customers to profit from market prices. A sunny day, for example, means lots of PV production and often low spot prices – a great opportunity to save money if customers shift their consumption."
Christian Steiner, Innovation Manager, oekostrom AG
Knowing the Austrian consumer can be a hesitant ‘first mover’, it would be critical for any new product to be robustly validated, easy to understand, easy to connect to - and easy to use.
How Podero helped
This is where Podero stepped in. The first step was a three-month soft launch focused on:
Connecting a range of devices; heat pumps, electric vehicles, inverters, batteries
Ensuring a smooth onboarding experience across this diverse device landscape
Delivering automated optimization to shift loads in line with low spot market prices
Developing the right commercial proposition to fit oekostrom AG’s strategic objectives
At the core of the soft launch was a white-label app customized for the oekostrom AG brand. The app can be up and running in minutes, providing users with real-time insights into pricing, device data, consumption, and optimization outcomes. Users could schedule consumption manually or let the intelligent algorithm handle it for them.
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The Podero white-label app customized for oekostrom AG’s brand
Meanwhile, Podero’s admin tools gave the oekostrom AG team live visibility across all connected devices, alongside the ability to invite users, track performance and respond to issues quickly.
Speed to launch
Podero was integrated into oekostrom AG’s trading systems, alongside its backend ERP and customer servicing, in just four months. Enabling development of a truly scalable and serviceable commercial proposition at launch. In October 2024, oekostrom AG announced its most advanced tariff yet - oeko Spot+ smartSave - with the second-largest marketing campaign in company history.
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While savings were an important component of the message, it was key to oekostrom AG’s brand values that this proposition was communicated as smart, rather than simply cheap. Advertising positioned ‘when’ you use electricity as a new lever for smarter energy consumption—with smartSave as the solution.
To include everyone, customers could also opt into smartSave as a ‘bolt on’ to their preferred tariff:
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Broader brand impact
The product launch has been a great success, with over 1,000 customers already on the new tariff and climbing, attracted by the potential to realise savings of up to 25% on key household devices.
But oekostrom AG has also seen a strong ‘halo effect’ on its brand as a whole, with the campaign bringing in new customers to its standard tariffs too. Demonstrating a commitment to customer-centric innovation has strengthened both retention and acquisition.
The Podero difference
Integrating automated steering + trading enablement + smart commercialisation has created a recipe for brand success for oekostrom AG, unlocking next generation energy products for everyone.
“With Podero’s help, we have developed a product connecting our customers more closely with energy markets. With our new tariff, every customer can now decide when to leverage low spot prices. Or they can lean back and let the algorithm do the saving for them. In any case, they save money - and help the environment.” Christian Steiner