Industry overview
What is shaping electric power
Power utilities serve millions of households and businesses, and are judged on reliability, billing accuracy and how well they communicate during outages. Smart meters are changing the relationship.
- Smart meters are changing billing and payment behaviour
- Outage communication strongly affects satisfaction
- Digital payments are replacing counter payments
Client background
A transmission company, working in Germany. Client identity is withheld to protect confidentiality.
- Organisation
- A transmission company
- Sector
- Electric power
- Team engaged
- Market Research
- Services
- Qualitative research, Quantitative research, Research consultancy
Client challenge
A new high-voltage line was facing local opposition. The company needed to understand concerns of landowners and residents to improve consultation and compensation. The project was important for bringing renewable power from the north to industrial regions in the south.
Research objectives
- Deliver on the brief: landowner perceptions along a new transmission line route.
- Understand the views, needs and behaviour of residents.
- Measure how widespread each pattern is, and explain the reasons behind it.
- Give the client evidence it can act on within 9 weeks.
Target audience
The work focused on 1,200 residents.
- residents1,200
Audiences we typically reach in electric power
Residential consumersCommercial and industrial consumersSmart-meter usersField and call-centre staffRegulators
Geographic coverage
Coverage: Germany. Market: Germany.
- Germany
Research methodology
A mixed-method design: structured research measured how widespread each pattern was, and qualitative conversations explained why.
- 1Brief
- 2Landowner interviews
- 3Resident survey
- 4Insight
We interviewed landowners and farmers along proposed routes and surveyed residents about concerns, information needs and trust in the planning process. Interviews were conducted in German, and the survey covered residents in each municipality along all route options.
Qualitative researchQuantitative researchResearch consultancy
Sampling strategy
- residents
- 1,200
- Business respondents were screened on role, company size and involvement in the decision before being invited.
- Qualitative participants were recruited purposively to cover the full range of experiences that mattered, rather than for statistical representation.
Data collection
- interviews
- 60
- Interviews and discussions were led by experienced moderators using a guide agreed with the client.
Data quality & validation
- Recordings and transcripts for every session
- Re-screening of qualitative recruits
- Logic and range checks on the final data
- Work carried out under our ISO 20252 quality procedures
Data analysis
- Cross-tabulation by key groups and locations
- Significance testing on the differences that mattered
- Thematic coding of interviews and discussions
- Journey and decision mapping
Key findings
- Concerns focused on landscape impact and unclear compensation.
Clear options and visuals improved the quality of consultation.
Recommendations
- The company published route alternatives with visualisations and a transparent compensation framework.
- The company also introduced a local information office along the route, staffed during planning hearings.
What we recommended, and the client put into practice
Business impact
- Participation in public consultations increased, and objections focused more on specific route details than on the project as a whole.
Deliverables & next steps
- Insight report and management presentation
- Cleaned data file and data tables
- Interview summaries and key verbatims
- Repeat the measure after changes are in place to track progress.
- A natural follow-on question: how should outages be communicated?
Client identity is withheld to protect confidentiality.