Putting Customers at the Heart of the Energy Transition

Energy companies, large businesses and the finance sector have an opportunity, both individually and by working together, to make the transition attractive, easy and affordable for all customers from energy intensive businesses to domestic customers currently living on and off grid.  

The Energy Transition Task Force's recent report highlights the importance of putting customers at the heart of the energy transition.

The report highlights the significant impact that large businesses can have through their energy purchasing, through the support they provide to their supply chain to decarbonise and through their wider influence. It looks at how energy companies can make it easier for customers to do things that benefit the whole energy system. It also touches on how the finance sector has a role to play in providing funding at different scales and with different risk profiles to meet the needs of customers large and small across the globe.

Read the full report here

Accompanying this report, the annex contains additional resources, tools, and information about how large businesses and energy companies specifically can put customers at the heart of the energy transition.

Accelerating the Pace of Renewable Energy Deployment

Within the SMI’s Energy Transition Taskforce, a Pace work stream was initiated to identify ways in which the pace of deployment of renewable and low-carbon energy projects could be accelerated. The focus of the work stream was on how to scale up the deployment of three main renewable energy sources: offshore wind, onshore wind, and solar.

It identified three cornerstones needed for an effective renewable energy strategy in mind: Regulatory Best Practices, Enabling Grid (transmission and interconnection), and Enabling Environment. The acceleration of pace needed requires a step change in these three areas and it needs to be properly thought through, resourced upfront, and executed in a just manner.

In their latest report, "How to accelerate the pace of renewable energy deployment," Pace identified key guiding principles that countries can apply across their projects, geographies, environments, political regimes, and economic markets to help accelerate renewable deployment.

The principles were framed to be applicable in as many situations as possible so that they can be used in a wide variety of projects and locations, with the understanding that every country faces different challenges. These guiding principles can help governments, private and public sector organisations, and other stakeholders identify ways to avoid unnecessary delays, reduce risk, and accelerate the pace of deployment. We are not yet out of time to meet our net-zero targets, but to do so the global community must deploy clean affordable renewable energy at greater speed and scale across all parts of the world.

We hope that this report helps highlight some of the guiding principles required to help the global energy sector increase the pace of this transition.

Read the full report here

Energy Customer Transition Video

The Energy Customer Transition working group aims to build positive momentum towards a customer-centric (and just) energy transition that helps people and businesses across the globe benefit from more affordable, green energy and play a part in achieving net zero.

The focus is expansive, looking globally from customers who have limited or no access to electricity, to well-served households connected to a grid, to businesses of all sizes from large industrial and commercial energy users to small and medium enterprises.

The task force will be highlighting the actions that energy companies, investors and large corporations in particular can take to bring about a customer centric transition. The video below is the first step in building interest and momentum towards this goal.

Letter of Intent

Download the full Letter of Intent

In coordination with other SMI Task Forces, the ETTF is focusing its attention on delivering action across three specific areas: Decarbonising and Greening, Pace, and Customers. Significant work is already underway in many of these areas. The ETTF will align with existing initiatives to deliver tangible progress following on from the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of Parties (COP26) in November 2021, which marks a significant milestone in global efforts to combat the impacts of climate change.

Membership composition

The Energy Transition Task Force is championed by Bernard Looney, CEO of bp. Its members are drawn from across the global energy industry, including:

Further information

For roundtable and Task Force enquiries please contact, Jerome Fitzgerald, Chief Industry Officer, Sustainable Markets Initiative:

Email: j.fitzgerald@sustainable-markets.org