Dutch Utility Bets Its Future on an Unusual Strategy: Selling Less Power<br />Through acquisitions (including of Quby), by nurturing a cluster of start-ups<br />and with other initiatives, Eneco has sought to provide new services to customers — and, in doing so, to enter new sectors, like the charging of electric vehicles and the repair of solar panels.<br />“We said ‘we have to create an increasing customer loyalty by doing something different,’” said Hans Valk, chief executive of Quby<br />and formerly the leader of Eneco’s consumer business.<br />“They wanted to keep it,” said Tako in ’t Veld, a former Eneco executive who now<br />leads the “smart energy” unit at Quby, the company that makes the energy meter.<br />In recent years, large volumes of wind and solar-generated electricity have undermined the economics of traditional power plants<br />and provided the outlines of a future in which conventional power plants no longer supply the bulk of a home’s electricity.<br />When Eneco first considered the test, the utility was locked in a profit-zapping battle with competitors, cutting prices for electric power<br />and natural gas while giving customers gifts for signing up.
