Sourcing energy services in business-to-business contexts: practices among end-customers
Journal article, 2023

Facing increased pressure to use renewable energy and achieve energy efficiency, organisations have the complex task of sourcing energy services from energy providers in business-to-business (B2B) contexts. We aimed to explore how customers in such contexts approach the sourcing of energy ser-
vices. Our theoretical and empirical approach linked energy as a service offering and customer–provider interfaces used in sourcing energy services to elucidate the practices adopted in such sourcing by customers in B2B contexts. To that end, we employed a
qualitative research approach using the Gioia methodology and conducted 18 semi-structured interviews with representatives of 18 firms in the B2B market for energy services in Sweden. Our results revealed two central categories of how energy services are sourced: basic and advanced. The theoris-
ing of those categories as forms of direct and indirect energy efficiency, combined with four types of energy services—information-, analysis-, improvement- and contract-oriented services, which include a description of energy services exchanged, where the cus-
tomer uses the energy service, the customer’s sourcing practices and characteristics of sourcing practices—provides important contributions to the
literature on energy services. In turn, we propose a four-part typology of interfaces used by providers and customers of energy services that considers the type of services sourced.

Energy sourcing · B2B energy services · Energy sourcing strategy · Customer–provider interface

Author

León Poblete

Chalmers, Technology Management and Economics, Service Management and Logistics

Arni Halldorsson

Chalmers, Technology Management and Economics, Service Management and Logistics

Energy Efficiency

1570-646X (ISSN) 1570-6478 (eISSN)

Vol. 16 3 10

KATE: Customized service offerings in the energy sector through servitization and digitalization

Göteborg Energi AB (ET01:KATE), 2019-10-01 -- 2022-09-30.

Subject Categories

Sociology (excluding Social work, Social Psychology and Social Anthropology)

Energy Engineering

Social Sciences Interdisciplinary

Driving Forces

Sustainable development

Areas of Advance

Production

Energy

DOI

10.1007/s12053-023-10091-y

More information

Latest update

3/14/2023