Västervik Miljö & Energi:
Digitalisation with the customer at the centre
Background
Västervik Miljö & Energi (VME) is a multi-utility company serving approximately 31,500 residents and businesses in the Municipality of Västervik with water, waste & recycling, fibre broadband, district heating, electricity retail, electricity distribution, and energy services. With customers across urban areas, rural communities, and the archipelago, the company faces high expectations for accessibility, service, and clear communication.
When VME realised that the most common question received by customer service was, “When will my waste bin be emptied?”, it became a wake-up call. Simple, repetitive enquiries were consuming significant resources, while customers increasingly expected faster, digital access to information and services.
This marked the beginning of a digital transformation with clear objectives: to improve the customer experience, reduce pressure on customer service, and create a future-proof platform capable of bringing all utility services together in one interface while evolving to support future needs such as smart energy management and data-driven decision-making.
Requirements
VME wanted to improve the flow of information and create new opportunities for proactive customer communication, reducing the number of incoming customer service enquiries while strengthening long-term customer relationships through added value.
The solution needed to support all of VME’s utility services – from waste management to electricity distribution – and be scalable enough to meet future requirements, including smart control and data-driven decision support. This included enabling customers to monitor and optimise their electricity consumption and schedule EV charging to avoid peak demand and take advantage of lower electricity prices.
Solution
In 2023, VME launched its customer app, built on the flexible, modular MyEnergy platform developed by Digpro specifically for multi-utility companies managing multiple utility services simultaneously.
The VME customer app brings together electricity, water, district heating, waste management, fibre broadband, and other services in a single digital interface, giving customers a complete overview of their relationship with the company.
- Monitor electricity prices and adapt their consumption using spot-price information and price alerts.
- Track their electricity demand in real time or over longer periods using intuitive graphs and historical data.
- Receive relevant information and notifications – such as waste collection schedules, contracts, invoices, service interruptions, or demand alerts – directly on their mobile device.
- In the future, integrate the app with EV chargers, solar PV systems, and heating systems.
- Reduced pressure on customer service by replacing many routine enquiries with automated push notifications.
- Proactive communication during planned maintenance and service disruptions.
- New revenue opportunities through value-added services such as real-time metering and smart demand management.
- Data-driven decision support at both customer and network level, enabling analysis and optimisation of consumption patterns and grid load.
Results
By integrating all utility services into one digital platform, VME has taken a significant step towards delivering a unified, seamless, and future-proof customer experience while simultaneously improving operational efficiency and preparing for future market developments.
For customers, this means they can monitor their energy consumption in real time, plan and optimise their usage, and quickly respond to notifications such as service alerts or price changes. The consolidated view also makes it easier to understand the relationship between different utility services—for example, how heating consumption varies with the weather or how EV charging can be scheduled to avoid peak demand.
For VME, the app has become a strategic tool supporting the entire organisation—from customer communication to network monitoring and energy planning. By bringing together all relevant data and functionality in one platform, the company can work more proactively, develop new services, and meet future requirements for energy efficiency and sustainability.
Having all utility services and customer interactions available through a single platform has also contributed to higher customer satisfaction, reflected in a noticeable improvement in the company’s Customer Satisfaction Index since the app was launched.
”The introduction of the app is a great improvement.”
”I think their digital communication has developed enormously over the past few years, and I'm genuinely impressed.”
”The app sends a notification before waste collection—that's a really great feature.”
Next steps
The launch of the app marked the beginning of VME’s customer-focused digital transformation. Together with Digpro, the company has a clear roadmap for expanding its use of MyEnergy with new capabilities, including:
- EV charger integration for smart charging and scheduling.
- Smart demand management based on electricity prices and network tariffs.
- Multi-level operational alerts across all utility services.
- Integration with solar PV installations and heating systems to optimise self-consumption.
- Educational content on sustainability and energy efficiency.
At the same time, VME is evaluating synergies with Digpro’s Network Information System (NIS) across multiple utility services, both for internal operations and customer-facing applications.
