Device flex is too often limited to dynamic customers with their obvious incentive to time-shift consumption to cheaper periods. But with most utilities seeing >70% of their base stick to fixed tariffs, this excludes a huge audience, limiting the scale needed to realise the true upside of flex. Oekostrom AG, a leading Austrian utility, partnered with Podero for a solution that unlocked flex-for-fixed.

 

About oekostrom AG

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

• Device flex product (‘smartSparen’) rolled out across dynamic AND fixed portfolio

 

• 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’

 

An inclusive transition

 

The vision for energy is clear: an ecosystem of electrified, efficient devices, from EVs to heat pumps, coordinated to make optimal use of abundant clean energy, across a balanced grid. But a meaningful transition needs to carry everyone with it, not just the few.

 

Equally, utilities need to see profitable trading from investing in device flex propositions – and that requires customer take-up at scale.

 

An inclusive utility

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. oekostrom’s brand is grounded in treating every customer as equally important. They pride themselves on an accessible tariff range that offers ‘something for everyone’. 

 

More Austrian households are adopting electrification, solar and connected devices. oekostrom wanted to unlock this smarter energy future in a way that could include everyone.

 

Commercial opportunity

 

Device flex propositions can generate immediate savings for any household with a connected EV, heat pump, battery or PV. More importantly, they can drive significant efficiencies for utilities alongside unlocking new revenue streams from participation in flex trading markets:

 

• Optimized load shifting against day-ahead or intraday pricing signals.

 

• More accurate load curve forecasting, reducing balance costs.

 

• Creation of aggregated residential device fleets, able to contribute capacity, generation or demand-shifting services – and trade accordingly.

 

• Improved retention from customers seeing new value in your relationship; device flex products are simply ‘stickier’.

 

But when this is limited to the device owners across the <30% of your base on dynamic contracts, all these revenue streams are inherently capped.

 

An integrated solution

oekostrom worked with Podero on a proposition that would maximise the available audience for device flex across its base. Podero’s cloud-based SaaS platform automatically steers and optimizes multi-device fleets but – critically – also integrates with trading and key billing systems. 

 

This meant that oekostrom could onboard and steer fixed contract customers’ devices as well as dynamic. Generating revenues from smarter purchasing and trading, then passing back a share of the gain to their fixed base via rebates on their monthly bills. Everyone wins.

 

The result? A bolt-on product called smartSparen, launched across every tariff in the oekostrom portfolio, fixed and spot, accessible via a simple click to add to your current contract.

 

 

Setting the standard for profitable device flex

 

With Podero’s support, oekostrom designed and launched smartSparen in 2024. This proposition met all the criteria for best practice device flex:

 

• Available for fixed AND dynamic contract customers

 

• Multi-device, multi-brand; you choose what to onboard

 

• Clearly signposted, easily discovered across all oekostrom digital channels

 

• Broadly promoted. Because it was relevant to their entire (device-owning) base, smartSparen could be showcased to all oekostrom customers – and beyond.

 

• Trained onboarding agents (via Podero training) to support smooth adoption

 

• Visible savings within the oekostrom app

 

The first step was a 3-month technical proof of concept; connecting devices, designing a smooth onboarding experience, proving load shifting optimizations and readying the full-blown product proposition. 

 

“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.” Head of Innovation, oekostrom AG

 

The product was fully launched in the market 4 months later. The product launch has been a great success for something so innovative, with over 1,000 customers already on the new tariff by early 2025 and climbing, attracted by the potential to realise savings of up to 25% on key household devices. 

 

 

Where to start with a device flex proposition

 

Rolling out a new flex proposition, even with the help of partners like Podero, can be challenging. Energy providers need establish a cross-functional team who can plan for:

 

• Technical integrations to app, backend, billing, trading, customer support. Without trading enablement, that fixed base will remain forever out of reach.

 

• Designing a smart flex proposition; what’s right for your customer base, works with your current product portfolio, and maps to your market’s device penetration

 

• Committing to confident customer communications

 

A few smart actions upfront can help you get set up for success:

 

• Do your homework. Explore market needs and comparable offerings to inform a value proposition most likely to connect with your target audience. Think in terms of smarter energy products, not just the core device flex offer. Device discounts, loyalty perks, etc.

 

• Assemble a cross-functional team. Don’t risk letting efforts stall because the commercial opportunity isn’t being championed.

 

• Recognize that this will be a journey to full trading ROI, with wins along the way. Manage senior stakeholders accordingly.

 

• Select a tech partner with the capabilities that can get you to scale and deliver those “stackable” trading profits. In the end, this is what will drive the business case.

 

Don’t leave your fixed base out of the energy transition

 

Creating a new device flex product may seem like a high risk investment. But oekostrom would affirm it’s an investment worth making. Flex propositions are launching across the majority of European markets – welcomed by customers increasingly keen to maximise payback from their connected devices. 

 

There is significant ROI to be unlocked in these next generation energy products. The technology is there and first-mover utilities are reaping the rewards. But only if you can deploy across your maximum possible base; dynamic AND fixed.

 

About Podero

 

Leading utilities use Podero to unlock their next generation of energy products. Podero’s fully integrated SaaS platform automatically manages device fleets, steering according to utility trading systems. Podero integrates into app, backend, trading, ERP and customer support systems to ensure a commercially scalable solution, as well as supporting product design plus go-to-market strategy and execution.