Energy efficiency is important – but an energy saving potential has yet to reach its full range. Energy services are means to reach that potential and energy companies are stressed as important actors into creating an established market for energy services. Energy services are tools that include providing in-direct services such as energy statistics, audits, declarations, consultations and analysis. It also includes a number of more complex and direct services, for example energy efficiency measurements or service contracts. This report is a result of a study on Danish and Swedish energy companies offering energy services, based on the market they act upon. It aims to find their driving forces for providing energy services. It also looks closer into whether publically and privately owned energy companies differ and if there exist contradictions to both supply energy and energy services at the same time. It also looks into how energy companies are affected and feel about national regulatory instruments. Energy companies in both countries offering energy services are reaching a wide spectrum of client segments and energy services. They often have the possibility to combine and package energy supply with energy services and they can reduce many of the theoretical barriers to energy efficiency by offering energy services. They are driven by a client demand and a closer client relationship, both leading to a decreased supply client fluctuation. A new business opportunity and a green profile strategy are also driving factors. Energy services also help energy companies to decrease heavy investment on existing equipment by having more control over their clients’ energy use and reducing energy utilization tops. Danish energy companies are tied to an energy saving obligation scheme, providing them with conditions, which their market is based, whilst Swedish energy companies offering energy services act on a market that is created by them and their competitors derive from different business backgrounds. There exist an assertive regulatory instrument in Denmark affecting driving factors for public and private energy companies and clients. In Sweden regulatory instruments, such as energy efficiency programmes, subsidises for energy audits and voluntary agreements for industries affect energy companies in a less way than in Denmark, mostly increasing a client demand for energy services. The regulatory instruments in Denmark increase a trust for energy companies as energy service providers as in Sweden they are trusted upon their existing substantial role on the energy market, a reputation of knowledge and experience and a strategy aiming towards visualisation, motivation and education for the clients. Public energy companies feel a responsibility towards their public owners to offer an efficient energy supply and by having a local connection to the municipality they are able to increase competiveness in the region by offering energy services. Private companies are substantially larger than public companies and have a great potential to reach out to a larger number of clients through their existing supply client stock. This is of substantial higher relevance in Sweden than Denmark.

Licensing of energy companies enables to implement state policy in strategical energy sector, where competition does not exist. Licenses are one of the most important instruments used by the independent energy regulator. This instrument not only allows perform the function of regulation under the licensed company’s activities in more efficient way and ensure the established level of service quality, but also ensures effective control over the different markets in energy sector. Licensing and regulation of energy companies is one of the functions established by the Law on Energy and separate laws for the different energy sectors and delegated to the National Control Commission for Prices and Energy (Commission). Licensing of energy companies started a few years ago in Lithuania. Shortly after the practical experience of the Commission revealed that inconcistency of some regulations which where in force, caused a possibility to interpret the same requirements of the legal acts in different ways. This circumstance did not allow the Commission to solve the rising problems quickly and objectively and to ensure proper and effective supervision of the already licensed companies. In addition, analysis of the requirements of the EU legal acts and of other countries experience disclosed that the licensing system which prevailes in Lithuania partially contradicts the competition principles established by the EU and diminishes the possibility of competition in the energy sector in spite... [to full text]

This thesis aims to examine internal and external parameters influencing Russian energy policy between 2000 and 2012. In this respect first energy policy of the Soviet Union and Russian Federation in 1990&rsquo / s are evaluated. In this framework it is assumed that old experiences and structures have influence on 2000&rsquo / s Russian Energy Policy. Russian energy profile is accepted not only a strength of Russia but also a source of limitation in Russian energy policy, it influences domestic and foreign energy policies of the country. Following the energy profile of Russia domestic energy policy of Russia is analyzed. In this respect, elite level perception on energy and use of hydrocarbon rents are important points taken into account. In addition to that, major Russian energy companies are analyzed, because they do not cross border drawn by Russian Administration. About Russian foreign energy policy, important actions and patterns about use of energy rent are evaluated / key countries for Russian energy resources are analyzed. In this respect, it is regarded that contrary to views of some scholars who consider Russian energy policy as the by product of Russian foreign policy, this thesis argues that Russian energy policy has been determined by the characteristics of Russian energy structure and domestic politics in addition to Russian foreign policy priorities. As a result issues like Russian economy, domestic developments in Russia, Russian foreign policy and international developments like emergence of new suppliers and markets, have influence on Russian energy policy and because of harmonization of energy and foreign policy, Russian energy policy carries realist features.

Community energy is an umbrella term encompassing various forms of renewable energy initiatives involving citizens and communities. These initiatives have been highlighted as a strategy for more sustainable and just energy systems. While community energy is a marginal phenomenon in Sweden, there are still around 140 active community energy initiatives of which the majority are wind power cooperatives. An overview of both active and discontinued wind power cooperatives gives evidence of different types and levels of collaborations with municipal energy companies, pointing to the vital role these play in the emergence and development of wind power cooperatives in Sweden. Still, there is a lack of research engaging with wind power cooperatives on the local level. With this thesis, I address this research gap by conducting a qualitative case study of four wind power cooperatives in Sweden exhibiting different types and levels of collaborations with municipal energy companies. The aim is to explore ways to conceptualise these collaboration structures and create a better understanding of the implications they have on the emergence and development of energy cooperatives in general. To this end, I use the concept of modes of governance as an analytical tool to discern, describe, and conceptualise the various ways in which wind energy cooperatives and municipal energy companies collaborate. The findings indicate both differences and similarities between the various cases in terms of how and why wind power cooperatives and municipal energy companies collaborate. The results suggest that a productive and supportive collaboration structure between energy cooperatives and energy companies is characterised by principles of co-production such as mutual interests and benefits. In turn, the conditions for such a collaboration depend on internal and external factors such as personal ties, individual engagement, and institutional aspects like policies and tax rules. Further, the study indicates that while cooperative ownership still has a role to play in the expansion of renewable energy in Sweden, it will likely remain a niche phenomenon whose emergence and survival is dependent on facilitation and guidance by governments.

The Swedish energy market consists of several different energy companies that possess different ownership structures. The strategical directions of the different energy companies are highly dependent on these ownership structures, due to the fact that the different owners decides the overall aim of the ownership which then is considered when creating a strategy. There are three dominant ownership structures for the energy companies within the Swedish energy market today which are; privately owned, governmentally owned and lastly energy companies owned by a municipality, often called regional energy companies. The strategical direction for the privately and governmentally owned energy companies are somewhat similar, where highprofitability often is prioritized combined with a sufficient sustainability. However, the strategical direction of the different regional energy companies differs greatly, depending on several different factors. The aim of this study is therefore to identify the strategical direction for 6 investigated regional energy companies, by examining different internal and external factors affecting this strategical direction.The study was based on 6 interviews with company representatives from each of the studied companies, where 5 of these representatives possessed the role as CEO and one possessed the role as senior advisor. These interviews was conducted in order to get a good understanding of the strategical direction of each company, and to identify the different internal and external factors affecting these.The results of this study identified several different external factors affecting the regional energy companies, which was then divided into 6 different categories; Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Environmental and lastly Legal. Different internal factors were also identified and categorized into five different areas, which were Politicians as owners, Aim of ownership, State of municipality, Risk management and Interpretation of municipal law. These factors was then used in order to identify the strategical directions of the studied regional energy companies, which differed substantially. However, there were areas within the different strategical directions that was similar to all investigatedcompanies. For example, all 6 investigated companies expressed the importance of aligning the energy companies and their offering with the changing customer demand that is highly connected to the increasing digitalization of the Swedish energy market.

Bakgrund: Motivation anses spela en viktig faktor för organisationers framgång och varje arbetsgivare har en viktig roll i att motivera medarbetarna för att uppnå organisatoriska mål. Ledare inom organisationer bör därför sträva efter att maximera prestationer och arbetstillfredsställelse hos sina medarbetare för att uppnå organisatoriska mål. I många länder är offentliga verksamheter de största arbetsgivarna, och många sektorer inom den offentliga verksamheten har en betydande roll för landets välmående. Kommunala energibolag drivs av egen vinst och agerar på en privatiserad marknad. Trots detta så är kommunen ägare, detta innebär att kommunfullmäktige tillsätter styrelsen och på så sätt går det att definiera kommunala energibolag som en form av hybrid mellan offentlig och privat verksamhet. Syfte: Syftet är att skapa en förståelse vad chefer gör för att motivera sina anställda utifrån inre och yttre motivationsfaktorer inom kommunalt ägda energibolag. Studien utgår ifrån ett ledarskapsperspektiv där det är av intresse att undersöka vad chefer gör för att motivera medarbetare och vad medarbetarna motiveras av. Den andra frågan används för att förstå vad som motiverar medarbetare utifrån ett ledarskapsperspektiv. Teoretisk referensram: Den teoretiska referensramen består av arbetsmotivation, Herzbergs tvåfaktorteori som lagt en grund när det kommer till att skilja på olika typer av motivation och Self-determination theory (SDT). SDT används för att förstå hur olika typer av motivation påverkar hur individer agerar och hur de skiljer sig åt. Metod: Studien genomfördes utifrån en kvalitativ forskningsansats. Semistrukturerade intervjuer stod för majoriteten av den insamlade datan men kompletterades med dokumentanalys. Studien undersökte två fallstudieorganisationer. Slutsats: Cheferna på de kommunala energibolagen ser arbetsmotivation som en helhet bestående av många olika faktorer snarare än ett enskilt fenomen. Vikten ligger på att arbeta mer mot inre motivation för att motivera, behålla och rekrytera medarbetare. Bland de viktigaste faktorerna hos medarbetarna för att bli motiverade är att få uppskattning för sina prestationer, stimulerande arbetsuppgifter och allmän trivsel på arbetsplatsen.

Fallstudien har undersökt hur ett behov uppstår av att integrera informationssystem med varandra, vad det innebär för företag som inte väljer att integrera informationssystem och vilka för- och nackdelar det finns det med systemintegration. Fallföretaget som i denna studie kallas för ”Energiföretaget AB” och innehar flera ansvarsområden som anses vara samhällsviktiga tjänster för infrastrukturen. Företaget förser lokalbefolkning med energi, dricksvatten, sophantering och värme. Utifrån verksamhetens sju olika ansvarsområden tvingas fallföretaget använda sig av flera informationssystem som förser affärssystemet med all nödvändiga data för att personalen ska kunna skapa en slutfaktura till kunderna. Datainsamlingen har genomförts via semistrukturerade intervjuer och tre olika personer har intervjuats från fallföretaget. Urvalet av respondenter grundar sig på olika kriterier som ansågs vara nödvändiga för studien. Analysen har att kunnat spegla studiens teorier som presenterar fyra olika typer informationssystem som verksamheter kan använda sig av och sju olika motiv till systemintegrationer. Resultatet från studien är att behovet av systemintegration kan bestå av omvärldens krav på verksamheten där även politiska beslut påverkar ifall informationssystemen måste förändras och integreras med andra informationssystem. Fallföretagets senaste utökning av ansvarsområde påverkar även informationssystem i verksamheten för att kunna bemöta arbetsprocesserna behov. Det leder till att det sker förändringar och befintliga informationssystemen måste integreras. Det besvarar första forskningsfrågan i denna studie. Andra forskningsfrågan som är vad det innebär för företag som inte väljer att integrera informationssystem har inte kunnat besvarats på grund av de otillräckliga insamlade data och kan inte generaliseras. Tredje forskningsfrågan som är vilka för- och nackdelar det finns med systemintegrationer har kunnat besvarats och summerats i en tabell. Utifrån analysen har respondenterna svar summerats i tabellen och redovisar flera punkter i både för- och nackdelar. En återkommande punkt som respondenterna benämnde var att manuella arbeten försvinner och minimerar fel i informationssystemen. / The case study has examined how a need arises to integrate information systems with each other, what it means for companies that do not choose to integrate information systems and what advantages and disadvantages there are with system integration. The case company which in this study is called “Energiföretaget AB” and has several areas of responsibility that are considered to be socially important services for the infrastructure. The company provides locals with energy, drinking water, waste management and heat. Based on the business' seven different areas of responsibility, the case company is forced to use several information systems that provide the business system with all the necessary data for the staff to be able to create and connect with customers. The data collection was carried out via semi-structured interviews and three different people were interviewed from the case company. The selection of respondents is based on various criteria that were considered necessary for the study. The analysis has been able to reflect the study's theories that present four different types of information systems that companies can use and seven different motives for system integrations. The result of the study is that the need for system integration can consist of the outside world's demands on the business, where political decisions also affect whether the information systems must be changed and integrated with other information systems. The case company's latest expansion of area of responsibility also affects information systems in the business to be able to meet the work processes' needs. This means that changes are taking place and existing information systems must be integrated. It answers the first research question in this study. The second research question, which is what it means for companies that do not choose to integrate information systems, has not been answered due to the insufficient data collected and cannot be generalized. The third research question, which are the advantages and disadvantages of system integrations, has been answered and summarized in a table. Based on the analysis, the respondents' answers have been summarized in the table and report several points in both advantages and disadvantages. A recurring point that the respondents mentioned was that manual work disappears and minimizes errors in the information systems.