Summary
Discover how enviaM, a leading German energy supplier within the E.ON group, partnered with NET2GRID to launch an innovative Behavioural Demand Response initiative. Powered by NET2GRID’s tariff engine and appliance disaggregation platform, the iONA mobile app delivered a dynamic "Happy Hour" lower-tariff service, driving customer engagement, strengthening brand loyalty, and shifting peak electrical loads.
Challenge
Energy suppliers face continuous pressure to elevate the digital customer experience, increase app engagement, and provide consumers with greater control over their energy usage. For enviaM, the objective was to motivate customers to interact regularly with the iONA mobile app while actively managing their daily electricity consumption. Achieving meaningful load shifting without automated control systems required an innovative, incentive-driven approach capable of encouraging voluntary behavioral changes during daily peak hours.
Solution
enviaM selected NET2GRID to implement the "Happy Hour" service as a key feature of its digital electricity campaign. The solution integrates daily price updates into the NET2GRID InControl platform and flexible tariff engine, disaggregating individual appliance usage to allocate discounted off-peak pricing during a fixed daily window. Through real-time notifications and transparent cost breakdowns in the iONA app, users can track live consumption and view their accrued savings. The infrastructure also supported special promotional campaigns - such as offering fully subsidized electricity during lockdown and holiday periods - to assist customers when indoor energy demand peaked.
Results
The initiative established a new standard for customer loyalty and digital interaction, generating strong consumer interest prior to launch and driving sustained daily app usage. By leveraging behavioral demand response, enviaM successfully shifted substantial electrical loads simply by encouraging users to run appliances during discounted timeframes. The service significantly boosted customer satisfaction metrics and earned enthusiastic user feedback, proving the value of real-time disaggregation and targeted rewards in modern utility engagement.
"Happy hour is a powerful tool in the age of digitization. Especially at the start of the pandemic, when we gave our customers a month of 100 percent happy hour, we noticed that electricity consumption rose sharply during this hour. There was great gratitude from the customers, which strengthens customer satisfaction and the associated customer loyalty. Furthermore, we were able to encourage people to use their app more often."
Christoph Herrmann
Product Development, enviaM
Download the full case study to read about:
How the 'Happy Hour' service works
How enviaM leveraged it during the COVID-19 lockdown
The technology behind the service
Achieved business results
Real customer testimonials
