Utility Week

UTILITY WEEK | 26TH APRIL - 2ND MAY 2019 | 27 Customers Future perfect? "The transformation of the energy systems can only work successfully by bringing our customers with us." Chief executive's view Lawrence Slade, Energy UK A s you'll see elsewhere in Utility Week [news, p4], Energy UK has this week published its Future of Energy report. The report has been long planned, being the culmi- nation of a lot of hard work over the past few months, but its publication happens to come at a time when recent protests have highlighted the urgent need to step up the country's e• orts to tackle climate change. In it we outline the many developments, challenges and opportunities that face us across all aspects of the energy system over the next 30 years or so – but the journey to that future needs to start now. Technology and innovation coupled with the need to decarbonise our sources of power means a transfor- mation is already well under way in our industry. The energy sector has led the way in the country's e• orts to tackle climate change with the growth of renewables bringing us to a situation where over half of our electric- ity generation now comes from low carbon sources. But there is no time to rest on our laurels as a trans- formation of this scale needs to be replicated across the economy. The impressive achievements and numbers so far are masking the danger that current inaction will soon result in progress actually slowing – at a time when we need to be accelerating. As well as further decarbonising our sources of power (and the most di† cult challenges there may still lie ahead) we need to start seriously tackling those sec- tors where progress has been limited, notably heating and transport. It's in areas like these where the energy sector will be playing a new and expanded role with implications for each of its constituent parts. The electriˆ cation of transport means increasingly fuelling our vehicles with low carbon power, suppliers o• ering tari• s that include low cost or low carbon options to charge your car, your vehicle acting as a battery able to store energy for later use or even for selling back to the grid, which in turn will have to be ready to cope with the extra demand that electric vehicles bring. Low carbon heating is undoubt- edly one of the biggest challenges facing us as we look to decarbon- ise, and will have a major impact on customers' lives – unlike the changes to our generation mix to date. Moving from a mere aware- ness of a looming and daunting issue to actually tackling it means we need stricter requirements to promote the development and uptake of low carbon heating solutions, as well as empowering local partnerships to deliver the solutions that best serve their communities and businesses. While the energy sector evidently has a vital role to play in enabling wider decarbonisation, it's only by working in partnership with others that we can deliver such change. That's why in drawing up this report, we've worked with environmental groups, customer representatives and charities, government and regula- tors – as well, of course, as our own members – and drawn on expertise from academics, business, transport and building sectors. Most importantly, underlying our whole report is the imperative to build this new energy system around the customer. It has been a quiet revolution so far – one which, to its credit, hasn't particularly a• ected the average customer. But the future will have a bigger impact and we will need to make sure customers are informed and involved with changes that will a• ect their everyday lives. The transformation can only work successfully by bringing our customers with us. There's every reason to believe the future will bring exciting and beneˆ cial opportunities to customers, but as Citizens Advice rightly points out, we need to guide customers grown accustomed to the status quo through a period of change. And by customers, we're not talking about a homogenous mass but millions of individuals with di• erent circumstances and preferences, ranging from those taking an active interest in their usage and gadgets to others who just want their needs taken care of by their energy provider – while also being conˆ dent they're getting a fair deal. We need to create a market that works for all. It won't be easy as we move to a very di• erent energy system, but that has to be our guiding principle throughout. That's one of the key messages from this report, that our industry is ready for the challenges ahead. We have achieved great things in recent years and we can do so again if given the right framework. Set clear targets and requirements and the market will respond. Nobody can yet know all the answers to the questions and challenges outlined in our report but the need for action is indisputable – as is the need to set out now on the path that will take us to the future energy system. I hope that you all get chance to read the report and I look forward to working with you as we look to make its vision a reality.

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