A new energy supplier is coming to Flanders this month, offering dynamic contracts for electricity and natural gas with low prices, allowing consumers to tailor their usage to the hours used.
At the end of June this year, the Dutch, relatively young company Frank Energie received a supply licence from the Flemish energy regulator VREG, allowing it to enter the region's market. The energy supplier offers a striking formula, made possible by the fact that it offers dynamic contracts, which it claims are about 15% cheaper than a traditional energy contract.
In dynamic contracts, the price for the energy cost is determined based on the wholesale price from energy exchanges, allowing it to make energy as cheap as possible for consumers with a smart meter.
The introduction of the smart meter responds to the urgent need for an alternative to fixed and variable contracts, and not only does it bring down energy bills – it can also make electricity use smarter and greener.
The company is not rolling out its services in Brussels and Wallonia, as few households have smart meters.
Catch-22?
On its website, the company details the average cost of electricity per hour, as well as the cost of gas before and after 06:00 in the morning.
"You buy energy at the same price as the big energy suppliers. That price changes every hour for electricity and every day for gas," the company explained. This means consumers with a digital meter can tailor their consumption to the cheapest hours of the day.
This can be combined with a 'smart charging' service which can ensure electric cars, washing machines or dishwashers start running automatically when prices are most favourable.
While Frank Energies boasts that the dynamic contract is cheaper in the long run than variable or fixed contracts, there can be periods with higher bills: The dynamic contract responds more quickly to the lowering of prices on the wholesale market, but the cost is also immediately adjusted when prices hike.
Besides its dynamic power contract with prices varying from hour to hour, Frank Energie in Flanders also offers a classic variable contract for those who do not yet have a digital meter. The natural gas offer is also a regular variable contract, whose prices are adjusted from month to month according to the wholesale market.
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Frank Energie is targeting around 10,000 Flemish customers by the end of 2023 and 50,000 by the end of 2024.
It will soon also introduce "smart charging" for a home battery, allowing people in Flanders with solar panels and a home battery to start their own lucrative energy shop.
After Flanders, it is looking to expand its dynamic contract formula to the Spanish and French energy markets.
