Abstract
The growth of energy service company (ESCO) markets in the private sector is restricted by a fragmented and highly uncertain market and by customers who are often unknowledgeable and unwilling. This study explores the potential role of utility companies as intermediaries in connecting supply-side ESCOs with potential demand-side customers in a manner that ensures customer satisfaction. The paper adopts a customer-centric, service-dominant logic perspective to examine how a utility company facilitates value co-creation in an in-depth case study of an extensive retrofit programme in the Emirate of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. The findings underline several value co-creation roles associated with the utility company intermediary, notably relationship-enabling, communication-enabling and knowledge-enabling roles. We conclude with recommendations on how utility companies can facilitate the co-creation of value at the ESCO–customer interface and, hence, support the development of ESCO markets towards decarbonising the built environment.
Highlights
The business model of energy service companies (ESCOs) has been recognised as a promising delivery mechanism for energy efficiency (Bertoldi & BozaKiss, 2017; Bertoldi et al, 2006; Fang et al, 2012; Marino et al, 2010; Vine, 2005)
By reflecting upon Ballantyne and Varey’s (2006) exchange enablers model, our findings identified three value cocreation roles associated with the Utility company (UCO) intermediary actor in the triadic energy service setting: relationship, communication- and knowledge-enabling roles
The Sharjah Electricity & Water Authority (SEWA) case study in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) underlines the vital role that a UCO can play as an intermediary to foster the development of ESCO markets
Summary
The business model of energy service companies (ESCOs) has been recognised as a promising delivery mechanism for energy efficiency (Bertoldi & BozaKiss, 2017; Bertoldi et al, 2006; Fang et al, 2012; Marino et al, 2010; Vine, 2005). Studies of intermediation in the ESCO markets by Bleyl et al (2013) have found that intermediaries contribute positively by supporting project development, encouraging competition between ESCOs and bridging the cultural chasms between customers and ESCOs. Facilitators were found to lower the transaction costs of energy efficiency services (Nolden et al, 2016). Facilitators were found to lower the transaction costs of energy efficiency services (Nolden et al, 2016) Despite their potential as an enabling mechanism for energy efficiency, studies of intermediaries’ roles in supporting ESCO markets in the private sector are scarce, with relatively little attention given to commercial and industrial customers by researchers. Existing facilitation literature has studied these roles as performed by independent consultants, energy
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