The study was jointly conducted by the German Association of Energy and Water Industries (BDEW) , the management consultancy A.T. Kearney and the innovation and digitization service provider IMP³rove Academy . 80 German energy supply companies were asked about the additional profits and savings they expect from digital offerings and technologies. They reported on their digitization progress. Extrapolating the survey’s finding to the entire German energy industry results in an increase in sales of 7.7 billion euros and additional savings of 7.8 billion euros by 2025.

The energy companies identified digital self-service portals (60% already available, 70% planned by 2020) and e-mobility solutions (60% to date, 80% planned by 2020) as the top revenue generators. 27% of the companies surveyed also use AI approaches in customer service or technical resource planning, almost half of them with measurable success. Digitization is also becoming increasingly important in the core business: 60% of energy supply contracts are concluded on the Internet.