Circle
Liquidity & financing
Corporate and project financing, cash flow models, scenarios — and what data banks expect.
Read the recapThe Power to Decide
The questions come from the industry.
So do the answers.
Enercide is the community for controlling and planning in the energy sector. At its centre is the Circle: 60 minutes, every month, with the topics you bring along.
A format by bdg, with Energieforen as subject-matter partnerA network of more than 300 energy providers
There is no shortage of insight.
What is missing is the step after it.
Anyone working in controlling at a municipal utility brings together data that was never built to fit: billing, grid, trading, projects, personnel. At the end there is a figure that an investment decision hangs on — and most of the time it sits in Excel.
At the same time, pressure is growing from every side. Grid expansion and the heat transition blow apart any investment plan that was good enough three years ago. Liquidity is suddenly the binding constraint. Contribution margins have to be defended again. And the controlling team has not grown for it.
There is no study that solves this problem. It takes people with the same problem — and someone who takes it through technically to the end. That is exactly why Enercide exists.
Where the name comes from
energyEnergydecideDecideenercide
In this industry there is a great deal between a figure and a decision right now: an investment decision that commits you for ten years. A heat plan a municipality depends on. A contribution margin that determines the next round of pricing. The name points at exactly that step — and that step is the real bottleneck.
In short
Enercide is the community for controlling, planning and corporate steering in the energy sector — run by bdg together with Energieforen. At the core of the format is the Enercide Circle: a monthly 60-minute live session in which people responsible for controlling and planning at municipal utilities and energy providers bring their own topics. Out of the topics that affect several of these utilities, concrete solutions emerge — under the Enercide name.
Energy providers in the network
The Enercide Circle
Once a month, 60 minutes, last Tuesday, 16:30. One topic in depth, then an open round on what is on your desk. No webinar, no lecture, no attendance requirement.
60 minutesDuration
MonthlyFrequency
OnlineFormat
Free of chargeParticipation
The 60 minutes
5 min
Recap
A short look back: what has happened since last time, who has joined.
20–25 min
Lead topic
One topic in depth — from the topic radar, from a study, or from a guest out of practice.
20 min
Topic radar
Open round: what is coming up for you. What gets named often here becomes the lead topic next time.
10 min
Initiatives
The projects we are working on — and where we are looking for people to join in.
A short look back, then one topic in depth. After that the open round: what is coming up for you. Finally ten minutes on the initiatives we are working on. Which topic goes into depth is something we ask you a week or two beforehand.
Next circle · Q4 2026
27 Oct 2026, 16:30
Topic
Heat planning & the heat transition
One quarter, three dates
Every quarter has one theme and runs to the same pattern: two online Circles, then a meeting on site where the topics turn into concrete plans.
Month 1 · Circle
Online · 60 minutes — entry into the quarterly theme. Wide view, first questions, topic radar.
Month 2 · Circle
Online · 60 minutes — deeper in, where the group wanted to go the first time. With guests out of practice.
Month 3 · on site
At the close of the quarter · bdg Office Dortmund — an afternoon in a small group, followed by dinner together. By the end, each utility knows what it will tackle next.
Quarterly themes
The themes follow whatever decisions actually hang on in the energy sector right now. They are connected — which is why they build on each other.
Liquidity & financing
Corporate and project financing, cash flow models, scenarios — and what data banks expect for them.
Current theme · Q3
CapEx & investment planning
Prioritising and costing investment programmes, rather than explaining them afterwards.
Covered
Heat planning & the heat transition
From municipal heat planning to delivery that stays economically manageable.
Q4
Sales steering
Product and customer contribution margins, planning for retail and business customers down to the individual contract.
Covered
Grids, generation & regulation
Project controlling for grid and generation schemes, including the regulatory frame.
On the topic radar
AI in controlling
There is a gap between ambition and everyday practice. We talk about what is actually running already.
Recurring
When a topic affects several utilities, we take it further — with those who want to join in. Whatever comes out of it carries the Enercide name.
What came out of the community
Two things we heard in the Circle that describe rather well where the industry stands:
01
Excel stays.
Whatever systems stand around it — the decisive calculation happens in the spreadsheet in the end. That is not a failing, it is a statement about the systems.
02
AI: ambition and everyday practice are far apart.
The ambition is stated everywhere. What actually runs in controlling is considerably less. That gap is precisely one of our topics.
Neither came from a study, but from the group. That is how topics arise here.
Once a quarter
we meet on site.
Two online Circles take a topic far enough to make clear where it gets stuck. The third date is an afternoon on site, in a small group. Relaxed, but not aimless: by the end you should know what you will tackle next.
Seats and date: we meet from 3 to 6 pm at the bdg Office, Phoenixseestraße 12 in Dortmund. We stay at five to seven utilities, because in a larger group nobody talks openly about their own figures any more.
29 Sept 2026, 15:00bdg Office, Phoenixseestraße 12, 44263 Dortmund
3 hoursAfternoon
5 to 7Utilities
Free of chargethis quarter
How the afternoon runs
1 hour
Discovery
We collect what is on your desk right now and sort it out. Where does it overlap, where is somebody further along.
1 hour
Solutions
Processes, systems, data. What is running at the others around the table, where it gets stuck in practice, which routes have proven themselves.
1 hour
Initiatives
At the end it gets concrete. What will you take on, what is missing for it, and who can help.
afterwards
Dinner
Afterwards we have dinner together.
What you take away
Comparable utilities
You hear from four to six others how they are tackling the same question right now.
A sense of where you stand
You can judge where you stand in comparison. We put the group together so that the comparison is worth something.
Approaches, not theses
For the points that come up there are approaches straight away. Specialists from bdg, Energieforen and FH Südwestfalen take part.
A network afterwards
And people you can call afterwards.
When we meet
The Circle runs as a recurring invitation — anyone on the list does not need to check here.
Enercide
On site
End of Q3 2026
An afternoon in a small group, followed by dinner together. By the end, each utility knows what it will tackle next.
Read the recapCircle
Heat planning & the heat transition
From municipal heat planning to delivery that stays economically manageable.
Notify meExpert format
Project insight: heat planning
STAWAG Aachen reports from implementing heat planning: starting point, approach, first experiences. 30 minutes.
Save the dateOn site
Q4 wrap-up 2026
Closing workshop on site: live in the application, your view, priorities for 2027. Then together to the Aachen Christmas market.
Save the dateAt our partners
No events yet.
The Enercide universe
What happens around
the Circle
The Circle is the heart of it, 60 minutes a month. Everything else exists because it fills the time in between.
Enercide IQ
The self-assessment of planning maturity. You answer questions on processes, systems and data and get a sense of where your utility stands compared with the industry.
To Enercide IQStudies & analyses
Studies by Energieforen and articles by bdg. Plus our own evaluation of the topic radar: what the group named across the quarter.
Community
The space between the sessions. Ask questions, find recaps, join the discussion. Even if you missed a Circle.
Solutions
Some topics affect not one utility but ten. Those we take further, together with whoever wants to join in, until something workable comes out of it: a planning model, a calculation logic, a tool. Under the Enercide name.
Where this comes from
Not a fresh start on
empty ground
Enercide is new. The experience behind it is not. Both partners have worked with energy providers for years — one on systems and figures, the other on the subject expertise of the industry.
bdg
Planning and steering in the energy sector
More than 15 years of technology-neutral experience, of which more than 10 years in the energy sector. References in grid, sales, generation and heat.
Energieforen
The industry network of the energy sector
Expert formats, studies and a network of more than 300 energy providers in Germany.
FAQ
Frequently asked
questions
What is Enercide?
Enercide is the community for controlling, planning and corporate steering in the energy sector. Enercide is a format by bdg (better decisions group); the subject-matter partner is Energieforen. At its core is the Enercide Circle: a monthly 60-minute live session in which people responsible for controlling and planning at municipal utilities bring their own topics.
What is the Enercide Circle?
The Enercide Circle is the monthly live session of the Enercide community: 60 minutes, online, with a fixed structure of recap, one lead topic in depth, an open topic round and a short look at ongoing initiatives. Topics are collected from participants one to two weeks before each session.
I have no time for another format. What does one hour a month give me?
One hour is the limit we deliberately do not exceed. In return you get one topic in depth and the view of other utilities on the same question — exactly what is in no study. If a session was nothing for you, tell us. After the last Circle the feedback was that it could get more concrete — which is exactly why the next one goes straight to the banks' perspective.
Are competitors sitting in the group?
That can happen — municipal utilities are competitors in parts, most clearly in sales. In practice it is less of a problem than expected, because questions in controlling are almost always structural: how to cost a CapEx programme, not how to price a tariff. And anyone who would rather not say something on a topic says nothing.
How openly can I talk about internal figures?
What is said in the group stays in the group. The recaps contain topics and patterns, never names and never figures from a single utility. If we would like to publish something from a Circle, we ask beforehand.
Will bdg call me afterwards?
Not because you took part. bdg runs the Circle, and we make no secret of the fact that projects can come out of it — but the route there runs through a topic you bring yourself, not through a call afterwards.
We still plan mostly in Excel. Are we in the right place?
Yes, and in good company. One of the first findings from the Circle was that the decisive calculation happens in a spreadsheet almost everywhere — regardless of which systems stand around it. The Circle is not a place for utilities that are already finished.
We work with a different system than bdg. Does that fit?
Yes. bdg has worked technology-neutrally for more than 15 years, and the Circle is about steering questions, not software comparisons. Vendor names rarely come up, and when they do, as a side note.
We are already in an expert format run by Energieforen. Does that overlap?
No, the formats have different jobs. The expert formats and working groups at Energieforen serve to form opinion within the industry. The Circle takes a question and works it towards delivery, up to a calculation logic you can apply. Many participants are in both — they complement each other.
What is the on-site session?
The close of the quarter in a small group: an afternoon of around three hours in three blocks: discovery, solutions, initiatives. Afterwards we have dinner together. We meet at the bdg Office, Phoenixseestraße 12 in Dortmund; you will find the next date under “Dates”. The group is deliberately kept small at five to seven utilities, so that concrete plans are standing at the end and not just business cards.
Do I have to prepare anything? And can I bring colleagues?
You do not have to prepare anything. One to two weeks beforehand we ask which topic should be next, that is all. Bringing colleagues is expressly welcome — that is exactly how the Circle grows.
Do I have to be there every time?
No. The Circle runs as a recurring invitation, and nobody keeps attendance lists. Anyone who misses a session finds the summary in the community.
Why is taking part free of charge?
[Because for bdg and the partners the Circle is the best way to really understand the industry — and because we want to build solutions that grow out of real questions rather than assumptions. That is the open deal. The on-site date is free of charge this quarter too.]
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Circle.
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Next Circle · 27 Oct 2026, 16:30 · Heat planning & the heat transition
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Be there at the next
Circle.
60 minutes, once a month, with the topics from the group.