History

Electricity supply has traditionally been a monopoly business all over the world. Finland started, among the first countries, to deregulate the electricity supply business gradually in the 1990s. The objective was to achieve a well-functioning electricity market in which competition would take care of cost efficiency and good service quality.

The history of VaasaEMG started almost a decade ago, in autumn 1998 – the moment when Finland’s electricity market was about to be change drastically because of the opening of the consumer market. The researchers working at the Marketing Department of the University of Vaasa approached electricity companies enquiring about their need to map the consumers’ opinions in the new market situation in which the consumers could freely choose their electricity suppliers. The first research project was agreed on, and more assignments followed. This was how VaasaEMG, originally ”University of Vaasa Energy Marketing Group”, was established. The idea for establishing the research group came from Dr Philip E. Lewis, who had previously researched deregulating electricity and gas markets in the UK.

Since the beginning VaasaEMG has funded its operations through external funding, by selling research projects. In the first years VaasaEMG concentrated on mostly serving electricity suppliers but quite soon orders from other companies also working at the energy field started flowing in, as well as from other organizations. For example, VaasaEMG has conducted four major projects for the Finnish Ministry of Trade and Industry over the years. All the research VaasaEMG does is related to energy in one way or another. Most of the projects are also related to marketing but VaasaEMG is also heavily involved in doing different kinds of disquisition projects in which the main issue is a good general knowledge of the energy market and the expertise in doing research.

One significant turn in VaasaEMG’s history has been the establishment of Vaasa Energy Institute in 2006. VaasaEMG is one of VEI’s founding members.

VaasaEMG was originally established at the Department of Marketing at the University of Vaasa where it had the possibility to grow and flourish for years. In 2007 it was decided that VaasaEMG will move to the Levon Institute, and the group moved to its subordination during summer 2007. The Levon Institute is the Center for Continuous Education and Research at the University of Vaasa . It provides continuous education, research and development services.