Andreas Hergaß becomes the new Commercial Director of Stadtwerke Gießen. Matthias Funk was reappointed as Technical Director ahead of schedule.
At its meeting on 26 June 2024, the Supervisory Board of Stadtwerke Gießen (SWG) appointed Andreas Hergaß as the new Commercial Director. The qualified banker and economist impressed the committee in all respects. He brings a wealth of experience from the cooperative banking sector and the energy industry and will take over from Jens Schmidt on 1 September 2024. "We are delighted to have found someone like Mr Andreas Hergaß," explains Alexander Wright, Chairman of the SWG Supervisory Board, adding: "Thanks to his professional background, Andreas Hergaß has precisely the knowledge that is of central importance for the tasks ahead at SWG. His extensive wealth of experience and his vision of a modern municipal utility as well as his focus on municipal interests were the decisive factors for us in the application process. We are delighted that we have been able to recruit him for SWG and look forward to working with him in the coming years."
There are also good reasons why Andreas Hergaß decided in favour of Stadtwerke Gießen: "From my time as a manager at other Hessian energy suppliers and their subsidiaries, I have of course known SWG for a long time. And two things have always fascinated me: the innovative strength and the fact that SWG is still 100 per cent in municipal hands. I find this constellation particularly appealing. Because it creates room for manoeuvre that many competitors don't have."
Shaping the future of SWG
In order to master the upcoming challenges that a municipal utility has to face in this country, it not only needs expertise in energy. The topic of digitalisation is likely to become increasingly important in the coming months and years. Andreas Hergaß also covers this area with his professional experience: since 2020, the now 57-year-old family man has been at the helm of a GreenTech company. The start-up from Cologne, where practically all processes from the initial enquiry to commissioning are digital, has made a name for itself with solutions for the use of renewable energies.
For Andreas Hergaß, however, shaping the future of SWG does not mean questioning everything. "I stand for continuity. I think the path that SWG has taken is the right one. But because the framework conditions are constantly changing, it is important to examine equally carefully and cautiously when and where adjustments need to be made," is how he describes his approach.
Technical Director reappointed ahead of schedule
The fact that the SWG Supervisory Board also attaches great importance to consistency can be seen from the fact that the board reappointed Technical Director Matthias Funk for a further three years and two months from 18 May 2025, around ten months before the end of his current term of office. "In our view, Andreas Hergaß and Matthias Funk complement each other to form an ideal tandem, combining decades of accumulated internal knowledge with important new impetus from outside," summarises Alexander Wright. Matthias Funk has a similar view: "I'm looking forward to working with my new colleague and I'm sure that we will achieve a lot together with our dedicated employees over the next few years."
Matthias Funk is a veteran of SWG. First as an engineer, then as head of department and finally as Technical Director for almost ten years, he has driven forward the expansion of district heating. An asset that is now proving to be a locational advantage and that makes it easier for the local authority to achieve both the climate protection targets it has set itself and the targets set by federal policy. In addition, district heating offers citizens a sustainable and affordable heating alternative that fulfils all future legal requirements.
In addition, Matthias Funk has confidently guided the company through the numerous crises of recent years and played his part in solving all the problems caused by the coronavirus pandemic, the dramatic price developments on the energy exchanges and the gas shortage caused by the war in Ukraine. Despite these additional challenges, he has never lost sight of innovation, as the current major PowerLahn project emphatically demonstrates. "We are delighted to have Mr Funk on board for another three years," explains Alexander Wright.