"Ever since the freezing scheme for households was decided in a political agreement between the Danish government and a broad majority of the parties in the Danish Parliament on September 23, 2022, work has been done during the fall to develop a good solution for our members," says Kim Mortensen, CEO of Danish District Heating. "Through a good collaboration with Softværket and Debbie, an IT solution was created before the turn of the year for the few affected district heating plants, so that since January 1, 2023, they can help the consumers who use the freezing scheme."
Softværket in Kolding, a software house with tailor-made solutions for the utility industry, is behind the new solution in collaboration with Debbie - a solution for collection and recovery of outstanding debts.
A good match
"Debbie was quick to come up with a solution for servicing the freezing scheme for electricity companies, and we immediately saw a good match between Debbie's solution and our billing system," says Softværket's CEO Jan Elmstrøm Blaabjerg and continues
"We are in control of the rules for freezing and everything about consumption and finances that form the basis for the calculations for what the affected district heating plants must offer their consumers in 2023 according to the adopted law. We then use Debbie as a platform for consumers, who can sign up for the freezing scheme with our customers via Debbie. Just as Debbie keeps track of what is frozen and how the frozen amount is to be settled in the period 2025-2028."
Manage the scheme for all 6 years
The freeze scheme runs for 6 years. The first year (2023) is called the freeze period, where the household can temporarily freeze a defined part of the district heating bill. This is followed by an installment-free year (2024). Before the end of the grace period, the household must choose whether to pay the total frozen amount at once or pay off the debt over a period of 4 years (2025-2028). Interest and fees are added to the frozen portion of the district heating bill, but Debbie keeps track of all this.
"It was obvious to further develop our solution for the electricity companies and, together with Softværket, develop a solution for the district heating plants before the end of 2022," says Emil Brandt, who developed Debbie. "We already have a good collaboration with the utility industry on digital debtor service and debt collection, and the basic platform in Debbie supports freezing. Of course, we have spent many hours customizing Debbie, but we are happy and proud of the user-friendly solution for freezing that we have put in place. First to a number of electricity companies and now also to the affected district heating plants in Dansk Fjernvarme".
