‘We are like a bartender who wants to see the customer come back’

‘Energy sustainability and reliability in the longer term is a shared responsibility. The public, government and business all have a role to play. One awkward aspect of the “energy problem” is that radical changes of behaviour are necessary. For one thing, we need to start saving energy big time. That’s the most effective way of reducing CO2 emissions in the short term. To achieve real changes we need to start by creating a sense of urgency. That sense is growing in the corporate community and fortunately also increasingly among politicians, particularly in the face of mounting public concern. A TNS NIPO survey commissioned by Nuon showed that no less than 44 per cent of people in the Netherlands are now concerned about the continuity of our energy supply. That hasn’t always been the case. Interestingly, the survey also revealed that the Dutch public see the government, industry and the energy companies as primarily responsible for tackling the problem. There is a real danger that politicians, entrepreneurs and civilians will keep passing the buck to one another. Civilians, so the survey showed, feel it’s not within their power to make a substantial contribution to a solution. So government and business must work together to help civilians make the right choices. We, as an energy company, are taking our responsibility. For instance, we promote energy saving with a whole range of instruments such as favourable terms for buying a high performance boiler. Such efforts are also self-serving. Advice and energy saving products yield attractive margins, possibly even better than our core product where the margins are comparatively small. But above all we are seeking to offer the customer what he wants and needs. A satisfied customer is a loyal customer. That is the foundation of every successful business. Compare it with a bartender who refuses to serve his regular customer John another beer: “Better take a coke”. That keeps John happy and, who knows, he may be back tomorrow. But there are limits to our responsibility; as an energy company we can only encourage, not coerce. If we all agree that these steps fall short, which appears to be the case, then the government needs to overcome its qualms about confronting the consumer directly with obligatory measures.’

Ruud Schuurs, Corporate Social Responsibility Director

This viewpoint is published in Sustainable Nuon 2006 magazine. In this magazine, the reader is guided through eight key issues that are currently confronting our sector and company; we explain our viewpoints and their relevance to the wider world. You can order the magazine through the order form on this website.