How Klarkraft grew to 21,000 metering points with only one operations full-time equivalent
Klarkraft, a fully digital Norwegian electricity retailer and UtilityCloud’s very first customer, has grown from zero to 21,000 metering points without push sales. The company has two employees with overlapping roles, who together spend about one full-time equivalent (FTE) on operations. With UtilityCloud at the core of an automated value chain, Klarkraft can keep growing without adding staff.
Background
Klarkraft was founded by Haakon Dyrnes (CEO) and Ørjan Hanssen (COO), both from the Norwegian mobile industry. They saw strong similarities between mobile and electricity retail: subscription relationships, supplier switching, invoicing and customer service. They also saw an industry with a trust problem.
Going through their own old electricity bills, the founders found agreements that were hard to understand and prices that had changed without clear notice. Klarkraft was built to fix that, with one simple agreement, full transparency and a fair price. Klarkraft launched in early 2021 as UtilityCloud’s first customer.
Simplicity also turned out to be a strong operating model. With only one product, there are fewer variants to configure, explain and support, which keeps the cost base low and the price competitive.
Approach: two employees, specialist partners, UtilityCloud at the core
Klarkraft buys technology and capacity from specialists instead of building it in-house. UtilityCloud is the core system, handling customer registration, market processes against Elhub and settlement. It also delivers Klarkraft’s web order, mobile app and MyPage. Ropo handles invoice distribution, collection and the customer service centre, and Skagerak Energitjenester handles power purchasing, balancing, and financing.
UtilityCloud connects to the surrounding systems through open APIs, so data flows end to end without manual handovers.
From order to payment with no manual steps
Every new Klarkraft customer passes through the same automated chain. The customer orders online through UtilityCloud’s WebOrder, confirms identity with BankID and signs, and a credit check runs automatically. UtilityCloud then handles the supplier switch and market processes with Elhub, calculates settlement and sends invoice lines to Ropo by API, which invoices the customer and handles payment and collection.
Human intervention is only needed to handle deviations. Klarkraft monitors the full value chain and works directly with UtilityCloud and Ropo to resolve exceptions.
One story from website to invoice, with UtilityCloud’s apps
Klarkraft uses UtilityCloud’s mobile app and MyPage as its customer self-service channels. Customers get an overview of prices, consumption, and invoices via the digital (today’s and tomorrow’s spot price and their own consumption), control (invoices and agreement details) and help (self-service, with a human customer service team behind it). The website, the order flow, the app and the invoice tell the same story, which is what makes the customer promise credible.
Klarkraft firmly believes customers want a simple app that lets them do what they need: check prices, consumption, and invoices. And customers agree: the Klarkraft app, delivered by UtilityCloud, is rated 4.5 from more than 1,100 reviews, compared with the market average of 3.9.
Results: an effective operating machine built to scale
As UtilityCloud’s first customer, Klarkraft helped shape the platform from day one, and the two companies worked through the early challenges together. Today, the same setup runs as what Haakon calls an effective operating machine.
- 21,000 metering points with one operations full-time equivalent. Operations take about one full-time role, shared between the two founders and supported by UtilityCloud’s automation and specialist partners.
- Growth without adding headcount. Klarkraft’s model is designed to stay at two employees regardless of how many customers it serves.
- Profitable growth. Positive cash flow for the last two years, with a low cost base that allows a competitive price.
- Satisfied customers drive growth. Top-rated on Bytt.no and Trustpilot for almost three years, with referrals as the main sales channel and no outbound sales.
- Fully digital customer journey. From web order and BankID signing to settlement, invoicing and self-service in the app.
