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10|23
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Issue title:

Interview with Stefan Koburger, Managing Director Montana Energie

Publication date:
06.10.2023
In this issue:

For this issue, dear readers, I have mainly been listening to others. I have never had three interviews in one edition before. There is, of course, a background to this. I have been following the developments at Montana Energie, a supplier in the residential sector, since the company started selling gas in 2008. When I heard that Montana had started the year 2023 very successfully, I thought I should talk to Stefan Koburger, one of the owners and managing directors, to to give us more information. That is how this topic of the month came about. In the ‘Framework conditions’ section, there is an interview with Toni Reinholz from the German Energy Agency (Dena) on guarantees of origin or certification of green hydrogen. The interview took place at the end of July; editing and approval took a while, but it has been updated to the current state of affairs in September. The short version of the third interview was already published in the ener|gate publication Messenger and received a lot of attention. Eduard Schmitke, astora's managing director, explains to me that the storage operator is working sincerely on converting a salt cavern for hydrogen and assessing market demand. It is not an easy topic, but Schmitke is convinced it will work

Topic of the month: Interview with Stefan Koburger, Managing Director Montana Energie

The Montana Group started supplying gas in the residential market in 2008. The Group's business is rooted in mineral oil trading, and it decided very early on to develop the gas business as a second pillar. Several years ago, electricity was added to the sales portfolio. The company does not release figures about the business, but electricity and gas sales have grown steadily in recent years. Montana is also selling energy in Austria. Stefan Koburger, the managing director and a member of the family that owns the company, assures me in the interview that the business is profitable and now has a higher turnover than mineral oil trading. In the interview, he explained the business strategy and also why gas sales is not a discontinued model for him for a long time to come.

ener|gate Gasmarkt: Montana is quite successful in the gas sales business and was also present on the market during the crisis...

Mr Koburger: ...we were not always present. We consistently align ourselves with the economic framework of the business. In market phases where we can't make financially viable offers, for example, we have withdrawn from sales activities via consumer portals. During these phases, gas or electricity is only offered via our website, supported by our own marketing activities.