Kommunale Energiedienstleistungsgesellschaft Südsachsen mbH

Kommunale Energiedienstleistungsgesellschaft Südsachsen mbH (KES) is a German energy service company based in Schneeberg in the Erzgebirge region of Saxony. It describes itself as a medium-sized enterprise from the heart of the Erzgebirge and as a cooperative association of municipal utilities (Stadtwerke) from the region that are 100% municipally owned. The name KES is presented as standing for "Kommunal / konzernfrei Energie Sächsisch Unternehmen" — municipal, independent of large corporate groups, Saxon. KES operates as a horizontal cooperation: rather than being a vertically integrated utility with its own generation and retail supply, it bundles processes and projects for its shareholder Stadtwerke so that they can use synergies, strengthen their economic viability and preserve their independence. In a constantly changing energy market shaped by growing regulation, the company aims to achieve significant cost advantages for its municipal utility partners through this cooperation. Its stated strengths include being a central point of contact, local competence, speed, flexibility, fair prices and regional value creation. The company was founded on 1 October 1998, in the context of the liberalisation of German energy markets in 1998, when the shareholder Stadtwerke opted for an entrepreneurial, independent and group-free status. Since then it has built up structured electricity procurement, portfolio management for electricity and gas, its own balancing group management, metering and energy data services, exchange membership at the EEX in Leipzig, and more recently services related to the German Fuel Emissions Trading Act (BEHG), redispatch processes, greenhouse gas quota (THG Quote) and the Supply Chain Due Diligence Act (HinSchG). KES is not a listed company and is not part of a large private energy group; it is owned by municipal utilities. Its business is therefore primarily B2B, serving its shareholder Stadtwerke and, through them, end customers in the region. The company is a small but specialised player in the German energy service and municipal utility cooperation landscape.

KES was founded on 1 October 1998, at a time when the liberalisation of the German energy markets prompted municipal utilities to embrace an entrepreneurial, independent and group-free identity. On the same date, Dipl.-Ing. Gunar Friedrich was appointed Managing Director. The company was established as a horizontal, cross-state cooperation of Stadtwerke, a model it has actively practised for years. In 2001 KES built up structured electricity procurement, followed in 2002 by the start of electricity portfolio management, its own balancing group management and additional services such as remote meter reading, energy data management and forecasting. In 2003 the company was granted admission as an exchange member at the EEX in Leipzig. In 2004 it founded KES Agentur, and in 2005 it commissioned its own KES data centre. In 2008 KES expanded into gas portfolio management, and in 2009 it extended its exchange membership to the gas exchange. The KES Agentur was dissolved in 2011. In 2017 KES started offering heating cost billing. In 2019 Mandy Unger took over as Managing Director. In August 2021 the company registered as an intermediary at the EEX for national emissions trading under the German Fuel Emissions Trading Act (BEHG). In September 2021 it built up a new service for handling redispatch processes, and in October 2021 it started BEHG services. In August 2022 it introduced a service for the THG quota (greenhouse gas quota). In December 2023 it started a service related to the German Supply Chain Due Diligence Act (HinSchG). Throughout its history, KES has remained a cooperative of municipal utilities, 100% municipally owned, and has positioned itself as a central service provider for its shareholders, helping them to achieve cost advantages and maintain independence in a regulated energy market.

• Founding of KES; appointment of Dipl.-Ing. Gunar Friedrich as Managing Director

• Build-up of structured electricity procurement

• Start of electricity portfolio management, own balancing group management and further services (remote meter reading, energy data management, forecasting)

• Granted admission as exchange member at EEX Leipzig

• Founding of KES Agentur

• Commissioning of KES data centre

• Entry into gas portfolio management

• Extension of exchange membership to the gas exchange

• Dissolution of KES Agentur

• Start of heating cost billing service

• Mandy Unger takes over as Managing Director

• Registration as intermediary at EEX for national emissions trading under BEHG

• Build-up of new service for handling redispatch processes

• Start of BEHG services

• Introduction of service for THG quota

• Start of service for HinSchG

Municipal, group-independent energy service provider and horizontal cooperation platform for regional Stadtwerke, focused on cost advantages, independence and regional value creation.

• Structured electricity procurement

  Procurement service for municipal utility shareholders, built up from 2001.

• Portfolio management electricity and gas

  Portfolio management for electricity started in 2002; gas portfolio management followed in 2008.

• Balancing group management

  Own balancing group management, started in 2002.

• Metering and energy data services

  Remote meter reading, energy data management and forecasting, started in 2002.

• Exchange trading membership (EEX)

  Admitted as exchange member at EEX Leipzig in 2003; extended to gas exchange in 2009.

• Heating cost billing

  Service started in 2017.

• BEHG services

  Services related to the German Fuel Emissions Trading Act, started in 2021.

• Redispatch process handling

  New service built up in 2021.

• THG quota service

  Service for greenhouse gas quota introduced in 2022.

• HinSchG service

  Service related to the German Supply Chain Due Diligence Act, started in 2023.

1. 1Über unskes-strom.de
2. 2Geschichtekes-strom.de
3. 3Wikidata: Kommunale Energiedienstleistungsgesellschaft Südsachsen mbHwikidata.org