Whether looking for information on retrofitting of residential buildings, municipal energy management or the renewable heating law of Baden-Württemberg - regional energy agencies in Baden- Württemberg are the independent and competent consultant for citizens. Almost 30 agencies are the first choice for this information address in their county.

The first energy agency in Baden-Württemberg was the state energy agency KEA (climate protection and energy agency Baden-Württemberg GmbH), funded in 1994 by the state, the utilities, the state bank, the craft and several other stakeholders. KEA employs more than 20 people staff, mainly engineers and architects.

The first regional agencies were funded 1997 in Heidelberg and 1999 in Stuttgart and Freiburg; all three of them supported by the EU SAVE programme. The successful work of those agencies was the motivation for the state ministry for environment to support new regional energy agencies with 100,000 € each. This support fostered a boom of new regional energy agencies especially during the last few years.

The prerequisites for a funding in Baden-Württemberg are comparable to the EU funding:

• the majority of the shareholders must be the public sector, either the county or the cities
• the county must support the funding of the agency
• The agency offers its services to all citizens in the county
• At least 1,5 employees are the initial staff of the agency
• Independent and competent advice are the key focus of the agency
• The operation must be guaranteed for at least 5 years

Typically, the crafts, local banks, architects, NGOs and utilities are among the shareholders. After a starting period of a few years, the agency is supposed to generate income from local projects. That means that all energy agencies are completely independent companies, typically non-profit associations.

Besides this, there are many beneficiaries of the agencies' work:

• Climate and environment have to suffer less emissions and the consumption of resources is reduced
• The local handycraft receives more orders and their turnover is at least stabilized.
• This is a very important factor in economically difficult times.
• The agencies consult the municipalities concerning energy management or issues like the European Energy Award©. At the moment, energy agencies in Baden-Württemberg consult 50 cities in the process described by the European Energy Award©.

The online map "renewable energies in Baden-Württemberg" is an initiative of KLIBA, Heidelberg's energy agency. The retrofit standards Baden-Württemberg were first used by Stuttgart's energy agency EBZ.

The directors of the local energy agencies meet at least twice a year to share their experience. This informal network is managed by the state energy agency.

Conclusion:

Success in climate protection depends on many contributing people and an appropriate public attitude. Often, climate protection yields significant investment. Independent, locally available consultants are a success factor for climate protection.