She was Essent’s top boss for barely three weeks when the storm broke loose. On February 24, Russia invaded Ukraine, beginning Europe’s biggest energy crisis in decades. At the headquarters of the energy company, the Dutch market leader with 2.5 million customers, everything changed overnight. Suddenly, gas and electricity suppliers became the focal point of a disruptive social crisis. There were serious concerns about how long the service would actually continue to be self-evident. And at what price.
“Everyone understood that those gigantic prices were caused by the war, but at the end of the day Essent is above the bill,” says Resi Becker (1973). These high costs also put extra pressure on the 3,000 employees. Becker came from postal company PostNL, with the assignment to guide Essent into the new era of a more sustainable energy supply. When she started in February this year, she thought she could settle into this completely new world for her, with its “great relevance and great complexity”. But that was a very short period. “Three whole weeks,” she jokes.
On the floor of the head office in Den Bosch where Becker receives, the lights are off in many rooms. The building looks deserted due to the many homeworkers, and in some departments the heating is completely off – this turns out to yield greater savings than if the thermostat in the entire building is turned down a few degrees. In an interview with NRC Becker looks back on a year in which the Dutch energy industry shook to its foundations. Everything that once seemed unthinkable in this seemingly stable world happened. “We delivered a product that no one was looking at when I started. That was eleven months ago.”
We have consciously started to focus on solutions in the home, to help people save energy: with heat pumps, solar panels and insulation
As a board member of the trade association Vereniging Energie-Nederland, Becker was closely involved in the creation of government subsidies to ease the pain of energy bills. The talks with politicians were under high pressure. Due to the major financial consequences for citizens and the treasury, while a solution was needed quickly. “The problem was certainly recognized in The Hague, but it took a long time before the solutions became concrete.”
An interview about the heavy files that ended up on her plate last year, and that are waiting for her for next year.
2022
Delivery security
“Our energy purchasing department saw that there had been unrest on the energy market for some time – prices had already been rising in the run-up to the war. When the war broke out, we were confronted with the question: can we still supply enough gas? We are less flexible than other large energy companies because we do not produce gas and electricity ourselves, we buy everything. That demanded an enormous amount from our organization, to do this as well and as smartly as possible. You need to find a ‘new normal’. But what is that?”
Extreme prices, angry customers
“I was very worried about the rising prices. It affected customers – they called us in a panic, we got a flood of questions – but it also affected us. There were angry people on the doorstep here in Den Bosch.
“We very consciously started focusing on solutions in the home, to help people save energy: with heat pumps, solar panels and insulation. We give them advice. Fortunately, we have many people in our house who can, so to speak, come by tomorrow if someone is in trouble. At the moment, saving is the best way to structurally do something about the bills.
“We took the angry customers inside, gave them a cup of coffee, and our advisers went through the notes with them.”
Employees under pressure
“This means a lot. Now, when you go to a party, everyone talks to you about what’s going on. Quite a lot has been said about energy companies, and sometimes that was not the case. Don’t underestimate that our customer service people have the same problems as the people they talk to. It feels very close. That is why we are now also building in many more moments for employees to ‘switch off’, to clear their heads. You have to be able to deal with that constant pressure in order to be able to speak to customers well-rested.”
Political help required
“We saw that about 1 million people were threatened with energy poverty as a result of this crisis, and that this could even rise to 2.5 million households if the crisis were to escalate further. That is 30 percent of all households: then you have a social problem. I can demand a lot of creativity from my people by smartly analyzing data in the best way to purchase energy. But we cannot take this away.”
“We sounded the alarm in June, the solution only came from The Hague by Prince’s Day. It was vacation time, and of course it also has to do with the complexity of the problem. We would have preferred a different, more income-dependent solution. But luckily there was a solution. That is the most important.”
2023
A key role
“Next year we will in fact be an executive organization of the government. The settlement of the price ceiling is done through the energy companies. We would like that too, because that way we can be sure that the support is used properly – for lowering the energy bill, and thus preventing payment problems – and not for anything else.
“But there is also a lot of suspicion, both among customers and in politics. All the money must end up with the customers, nothing must remain with the energy companies. I understand that suspicion. But I think it’s important to make a distinction. There are about sixty parties active on the market, and a small number have behaved like cowboys, according to the regulator ACM. They have abused the flexible entry rules – when I just started someone told me that you can start an energy company in the Netherlands with two PCs and a table, and I was terrified.
“We will regain trust by sticking to the agreements as a sector. I don’t see why we shouldn’t. Yes, as a company we also benefit financially from everyone being able to pay their bills. But I think the most important thing is that customers don’t get into trouble. There is tight control around the price cap. Accountants keep an eye on everything. And that there are political emotions, that there is suspicion? Every now and then you have to take a hit. That’s just how it is. But we step over our shadow and I cheerfully carry on.”
Long-term customer pain
“There is a real chance that we will have to deal with higher prices for a while. And not only for gas, but also for electricity. Affordability remains an issue, especially for vulnerable households. We need to think now about a solution for 2024 – this problem is not over yet. And this time we can’t take as long as last year. Fortunately, talks are already underway in The Hague about more targeted help for these vulnerable groups. There is a sense of urgency. Continued savings will be necessary in 2024. Take shorter showers, turn the thermostat down a degree in the house.”
The price ceiling
“The mega project called the price ceiling is of course not a solution to the real problem: the energy scarcity. We must accelerate the energy transition, that is the solution. But to do that, we have to do a number of things differently in order to be more effective. If the government wants us to move away from gas, household electricity consumption will increase fivefold. And the power network is already overloaded in many places. And the solution is not easy for many customers. Sometimes people ask us for a heat pump, while their house is as leaky as a basket. We all understand that we shouldn’t do that. There is currently no system that encourages us all to invest very hard.
“I think we should focus much more on battery solutions, for both companies and households. In this way you can better arrange the energy supply locally and build in the certainty that there is always power when you need it. And we have to stop oversizing. I know this is politically sensitive. The fact that there are now 2 million households with solar panels is thanks to the net metering scheme. I know, but it also puts a heavy load on the power grid and ultimately people without solar panels pay the extra costs. Now it is time for the next phase of the transition. Let’s shift the subsidies from solar panels to batteries. We are no longer dependent on a central energy supply, which has now proved to be vulnerable. Nobody wants to depend on Russia for their daily energy needs.
“I don’t know if we can achieve enough in one year to take away the cold. We must continue at full speed. Fortunately, the political climate surrounding the transition has changed for the better. And when I see how quickly we can build a new terminal in Eemshaven to supply liquefied gas, for example, I am optimistic.”
Stricter rules
“The entry rules for energy companies could really be stricter. Some players cause a lot of problems, for customers and for the sector itself. But competition is also necessary, it forces innovation to stay ahead. We desperately need innovation in the sector.
“I find it difficult to assess whether stricter rules should also be introduced to strengthen the financial resilience of energy companies. Because energy companies with their large trading divisions would sometimes behave more like financial institutions. Yes, resilience is important. But do you immediately want the same strict regime as in the banking world? There’s still something in between. You also want to keep trade freedom, invest as a company. Otherwise you cannot innovate and there will be no movement.”
Walk away
“When I started here, I was amazed at the many people who switch energy companies, although that has become much less this year. You want to serve a customer longer. Not because there is less choice, but because it is attractive to him or her.
“Yes, energy companies do not offer long contracts now, but there is a reason for that. If the customer leaves after a short time, those 50 or a maximum of 100 euros pay, while the value of an average annual contract is 4,000 euros. We run a certain risk there, because of the purchasing. We are in talks with the regulator about a fairer formula and expect to start offering permanent contracts again soon. But with different rules. Compare it with a telephone subscription, where you cannot get rid of your annual contract with 50 euros.”