A Danish energy company owner is personally distributing thousands of kroner to angry customers through a closed Facebook group, raising alarm bells about the firm's financial stability and business practices. Source: Danish Energy Agency - Official Website.
Lars Hein, co-owner of Velkommen and subsidiary Nettopower, has been making direct payments to customers who complain publicly about unpaid refunds. The unusual practice has drawn sharp criticism from experts who see it as evidence of deeper problems in Denmark society's energy sector.
"Good evening everyone. Please feel free to contact me directly. I will do everything I can to solve the challenges some of you have with us," Hein wrote in the Facebook group, promising to resolve customer issues regardless of what they are.
Regulatory pressure mounts on troubled energy firms
The companies face growing scrutiny from Danish authorities. Forsyningstilsynet (Denmark's Energy Authority) is investigating their practices, while Energiankenævnet (the Energy Complaint Board) received 85 complaints about the companies in early 2026 alone.
The Consumer Ombudsman previously ruled against Velkommen for violating marketing law by obscuring price information and misleading customers about variable pricing structures and green energy claims.
Customers report waiting months for refunds of thousands of kroner. One Facebook group member complained about waiting for 9,000 kroner since November, with customer service repeatedly pushing back payment dates.
The companies' financial structure raises red flags. According to 2024 accounts, they held nearly 100 million kroner in customer prepayments while carrying substantial debts and minimal cash reserves. Money flows through a web of related companies, including callcenter firm Salescorp, which had negative equity of over 40 million kroner.
Football club connection deepens financial concerns
Most troubling is the connection to Amager Elite, formerly Fremad Amager Elite football club. Salescorp transferred over 20 million kroner to the football operation in 2024 for "marketing" while Velkommen's logo appeared on player jerseys. The football company is now under reconstruction due to unpaid debts.
Professor Per Nikolaj Bukh from Aalborg University warns that customer prepayments may have ended up funding the failing football venture through the callcenter company. "If electricity customers' money was in Salescorp, and millions were pulled out into another company that ends in bankruptcy, they won't come back," he told TV 2.
Leif Christensen from Copenhagen Business School sees bankruptcy risk looming. "There doesn't need to be much more bad news before people want their money back. Then the electricity companies run into liquidity problems, and it ends in bankruptcy."
Hein defends his Facebook interventions as normal customer service in a "flat organization," blaming IT challenges for manual processing delays. He promises automated systems by the second quarter but won't specify how much the companies owe customers.
Forbrugerrådet Tænk's political chief Uffe Rabe Krag calls the Facebook payments "very strange practice" and warns many customers may never recover their money.
Expect Forsyningstilsynet to impose formal restrictions on customer prepayments before summer, as the current system essentially turns energy customers into unsecured creditors of a financially precarious operation.
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