ABOUT VKU

"The VKU is the association of municipally determined infrastructure undertakings and economic enterprises. These are companies that provide services of general interest in Germany within the framework of local self-government. Working in the context of an economic system driven by competition, they serve the interests of citizens by maintaining a service structure that counteracts the forces of market concentration and forms an integral part of Germany's social market economy.

The VKU is the association for the local public utilities, which do not primarily pursue private commercial objectives but are guided by public welfare obligations. In our democratic system, they operate under local self-administration to serve "citizen value", i.e. to meet the needs of the local community. The type of capital they form and secure is a community-oriented asset." (Resolution of the VKU Executive Committee of 26 February 2008)

The Verband kommunaler Unternehmen e.V. (VKU) represents the interests of the local public utility sector in Germany, which includes both supply and disposal services. Founded in 1949, this Association of Local Utilities has its headquarters in Berlin. It also runs an EU representation in Brussels. The 1,400 member companies organised within the VKU are primarily active in the fields of energy supply, water supply and sewage, waste management and municipal cleaning. The companies and undertakings providing waste management and municipal cleaning services are represented within the VKU by the Verband kommunale Abfallwirtschaft und Stadtreinigung im VKU (VKS im VKU).

We bring together the interests of the local utilities and influence the processes of policy-making and law-making. We formulate ideas on the future of the local utility sector and offer our members a broad range of support services.

THE MEMBER COMPANIES

The 1,400 member companies in the VKU are municipal or regional infrastructure service providers that operate one or more of the following core businesses: electricity, gas, district heating, water supply, sewage, waste management and municipal cleaning. Our membership also includes undertakings performing partial functions of a utility operation, such as energy trading companies. The members vary not only in their field of activities but also in size, organisational structure, ownership and legal status. However, member companies have the following points in common:

  • They operate at the local and regional level.
  • They serve a public purpose; under EU law they render services of general interest or of general economic interest.
  • One or more local authorities have a crucial influence on the company's decisions.
  • They are frequently organised as a multi-utility, this being an important characteristic of the local utility approach.
  • The focus of activity lies in distribution and sales.
  • The member companies that generate electricity tend to run cogeneration plants and increasingly operate on the basis of renewable energies.

LOCAL MULTI-UTILITY

The local public utilities perform crucial infrastructure functions for municipalities of all sizes. They guarantee secure, safe, cost-effective and environmentally sound supplies to the population of electricity, gas and district heating as well as drinkingwater produced and distributed as a basic requirement. In the same way, the local disposal utilities guarantee the essential services of waste and sewage management.

Typical of local public enterprise sector is the horizontal integration of several types of services under one multi-utility roof - an arrangement that offers significant synergy benefits. Indeed it was out of this need to combine the individual service sectors that Germany's municipal utility companies, the Stadtwerke, came into being. Most Stadtwerke were formed in the second half of the 19th century and first third of the 20th century.

In many cases they were given additional responsibilities for municipal services such as local public transport, ports, swimming baths or, in more recent times, waste and sewage management. Of some 1,400 VKU member companies, 295 are classical local multi-utilities supplying electricity, gas, district heating and water. 609 member companies are active in the field of electricity supply, 576 provide gas and 700 drinking water. The majority of our members have at least two or three service divisions. In addition, our membership includes a number of companies and undertakings responsible for only one type of service, especially in the water supply, sewage disposal, waste management and municipal cleaning sectors.

SOCIAL NETWORKS: