No end in sight to innogy crisis

Two months after the surprise departure of CEO Peter Terium, renewable utility innogy is in crisis, and neither the management nor majority owner RWE have a plan to get out of the mess created by a profit drop, writes Angela Hennersdorf in the business magazine Wirtschaftswoche. Innogy “started as a white hope meant to secure the future of utility RWE, but it increasingly turns into a millstone around the neck.” An innogy manager told the author that “this company is in total chaos,” adding that “nobody has any idea how things will continue.” Nearly every company division is saddled with problems, writes Hennersdorf, citing the stagnation of renewable generation; troubles at innogy’s retail businesses in Great Britain and the Netherlands; and rumours about a grid sale. “The chaos reveals the extent to which Germany’s second largest power company is still struggling with the Energiewende.”

Find plenty of background in the dossier Battered utilities take on start-ups in innovation race.