Public affairs for energy and infrastructure
The energy transition is decided in permitting procedures.
Public affairs for generators, grid operators, utilities and infrastructure investors between climate targets, security of supply and affordability.
Starting point
Hardly any policy field has changed as fast in recent years as energy. Climate targets, security of supply and affordability sit in a conflict that is renegotiated weekly, often under considerable public pressure.
For companies this means that a project rarely fails on technology. It fails on an environmental impact assessment, on a grid tariff decision, or because a region was not brought along.
We work at both ends: on the regulatory position towards ministries, the regulator and provincial governments, and on local acceptance, without which no transmission project gets built in Austria any more.
What it comes down to
Permitting timelines
Environmental assessments and zoning decide whether a project connects in three years or in ten.
Electricity market design
Capacity mechanisms, guarantees of origin and bidding zones reach straight into the revenue model.
Grid tariffs and financing
How build-out costs are shared is a political question with immediate balance sheet effect.
Local acceptance
Without a workable dialogue in the region no transmission or generation project gets through.
Live dossiers
Renewables build-out and permitting
Acceleration areas, impact assessment reform, provincial law.
Electricity market design
Capacity mechanisms, bidding zones, flexibility.
Grid tariffs and financing
Cost allocation, incentive regulation, investment frameworks.
Security of supply
Storage, reserves, crisis preparedness, import dependency.
How we work in this sector
Stakeholder & Network
Simply "knowing" people adds nothing. Robust relationships of trust with decision-makers do.
High-Level Strategy & Campaigning
A business strategy becomes a communications programme that reaches its goals faster.
Professional Analysis & Monitoring
Curated monitoring of initiatives, draft legislation and public debate - assessed against your business goals.
Frequently asked
Who decides on energy projects in Austria?
Competence is split. The federal level sets the legal frame, the regulator E-Control governs grids and tariffs, and the provinces decide on zoning and a large part of the permitting. Effective project communication addresses all three levels at once.
What does public affairs contribute to a permitting procedure?
The procedure itself is run in law, not in politics. Public affairs works before and beside it: on the design of the framework legislation, on building regional alliances, and on a public debate in which a project does not become a symbol for something else.
Do you also advise infrastructure investors?
Yes. For investors the regulatory assessment of a market is part of due diligence. We provide a robust reading of political risk across the holding period and support transactions on the communications side.
Other sectors
Telecommunications
Network rollout, spectrum policy and data protection rules decide how much room to invest remains.
Open sector pageFinancial Services & Insurance
Supervisors in Vienna, Brussels and Basel reach directly into day-to-day business.
Open sector pageHealth & Life Sciences
A growth sector carrying heavy societal responsibility and a correspondingly dense rulebook.
Open sector page
Facing an issue in this sector?
A first conversation usually settles quickly whether and how we can help.