D 35 · E 36–39
Municipal utilities (Stadtwerke), electricity and gas suppliers, grid operators, water and wastewater companies, waste disposal and recycling companies – for plant engineering firms, engineering offices, IT service providers and suppliers to the utilities sector.
76,226 businesses in Germany according to Destatis, business register, GENESIS table 52111-0010 (reference year 2024, table updated 21 September 2026). Sections D energy supply (66,420) and E water supply, sewerage and waste management (9,806) combined. We quote the size, contact coverage and price of your export on request.
Two sections of the classification belong together because the same companies are often active in both: D “Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply” and E “Water supply; sewerage, waste management and remediation activities”. A municipal utility supplies electricity, gas, heat and water and sometimes also runs refuse collection – in the statistics only its main activity counts.
“Stadtwerk” is neither a legal form nor an economic activity. Municipal utilities exist as a GmbH, as an AG, as a municipally owned enterprise (Eigenbetrieb) or as a public-law institution. Only the companies are in the commercial register.
| WZ 2008 | Official title | For your selection |
|---|---|---|
| 35.1 | Electric power generation, transmission and distribution | generation, transmission, distribution and trade – including operating companies of wind and solar parks |
| 35.2 | Manufacture of gas; distribution of gaseous fuels | production, distribution and trade |
| 35.3 | Steam and air conditioning supply | district heating, energy contracting |
| 36 | Water collection, treatment and supply | waterworks and special-purpose associations, where run as businesses |
| 37 | Sewerage | operators of sewer networks and treatment plants |
| 38 | Waste collection, treatment and disposal activities; materials recovery | waste disposal companies, skip hire, recycling (38.3) |
| 39 | Remediation activities and other waste management services | contaminated site and soil remediation |
The energy and waste sectors are heavily regulated. Several official directories are freely accessible – but each covers only one segment.
These 15 columns are included.
Class 35.1 does not only contain the regional supplier. Every company operating a wind park or a larger solar installation generates electricity and falls into the same class. Such operating companies often have no staff of their own and share their address with the project developer. If you are looking for suppliers with a customer base, say so explicitly.
Operation of the distribution grid must be legally separated from the other energy supply activities; companies with fewer than 100,000 customers connected to their grid are exempt (§ 7 EnWG). The grid operator and the supplier of the same town are then two companies with similar names, often at the same address.
In many places, water supply and wastewater disposal are run by special-purpose associations, municipally owned enterprises or the municipality itself. These units are not commercial companies; the industry Municipalities and public institutions may also be relevant.
We develop software for remote meter reading and are looking for municipal utilities and regional suppliers (35.1 to 35.3, 36) in Bavaria and Saxony with a phone number. Operating companies of individual wind and solar parks should not be included. Can that be separated out?
Use cases
Identifying suppliers and grid operators in a region as clients.
Contacting suppliers with their own customer base by phone.
Approaching water and wastewater companies for planning and expert services.
Waste management and recycling companies by federal state for the field sales team.
Questions
That can only be said once the dataset is available. Municipal utilities in the legal form of a GmbH or AG are in the commercial register; municipally owned enterprises and public-law institutions are not. Whether and how they are covered depends on the dataset’s sources, which have not yet been finalised.
Not via the WZ code alone, because suppliers and park operators share class 35.11. Narrowing it down via company name and legal form is possible, but not clear-cut. We tell you in advance how the selection turns out.
No. The register is installation-based and contains technical data that a company list lacks. Conversely, it does not include water, wastewater and waste management companies. The two sources answer different questions.
76,226 businesses in Germany according to Destatis, business register, GENESIS table 52111-0010 (reference year 2024, table updated 21 September 2026). Sections D energy supply (66,420) and E water supply, sewerage and waste management (9,806) combined. This is a figure from official statistics, not the size of our dataset.
Format, sources, price and marketing law (§ 7 UWG): questions about all industries.
