If You Wanted to Get There, You Wouldn’t Start From Here” - Creating the Energy Transition From Scratch

At December’s Future of Utilities: Smart Energy event in London, I had the chance to speak to a group of industry experts to explore what 3 things they’d do if they were building the energy system from scratch.

It’s a question that exposes the complexity and legacy decisions that shape the system we’re now trying to decarbonise. Yet when you listen to the experts who are designing, operating and innovating, it’s clear that there is a clear narrative as to how we can enable the energy transition of the future.

1. Start with the Right Price Signals - and Keep Them Consistent

One of the strongest themes is the need for better price signals. Several of our participants argue that the market foundations were never designed for the world we now inhabit. A decade of interventions - from feed‑in tariffs to inconsistent flexibility markets - has created distortions that make it difficult to build viable business cases for storage, new capacity or grid‑supporting technologies. If the system were being designed today, it should start with clear, stable and technology‑agnostic incentives that reward the behaviours the system actually needs. Consistency across markets and geographies would allow optimisation to happen faster and more efficiently, ultimately lowering costs for consumers and accelerating the transition.

2. Build a Connected, Visible, Interoperable System

Another point that came across strongly is the need for a more connected, visible and interoperable system. Leaders from across the technology and flexibility landscape highlight how difficult it still is to connect devices, access real‑time data or understand what is happening on the grid at any given moment. Imagine a system where device connectivity is seamless, grid monitoring is sophisticated, and data flows freely enough to support dynamic optimisation. In this redesigned world, permitting would be faster, congestion easier to manage, and the integration of new technologies far more straightforward. The technology to achieve this already exists, but what’s missing is the system architecture to support it.

3. Put the User at the Centre - Not as an Afterthought

Perhaps the most human insight is the call to put users at the centre. One of the strongest threads was the argument that the industry still tends to build technology first, software second, and only then consider how to engage customers. If we were starting again, we should begin by understanding what people value, how they behave and what they need in order to participate. Only then could we design the software that enables that value, and finally the hardware that makes it possible. This shift is not just about better user experience; it’s about unlocking the trust, permission and behavioural change required for flexibility, electrification and demand‑side participation to scale.

4. Working Together - Across Markets, Sectors, and Borders

Collaboration - or the lack of it - also emerges as a major theme. Our experts commented on how fragmented the industry remains, with duplicated efforts, incompatible technologies and territorial approaches slowing progress. If the system were being rebuilt, they would prioritise shared technology stacks, common integration layers and greater alignment across markets. They would also look more closely at what neighbouring countries are doing, learning from successes and avoiding unnecessary complexity. The UK, for example, is often criticised for its intricate market design, yet it has also pioneered innovations that others could adopt. A redesigned system would be coordinated rather than duplicated, collaborative rather than siloed.

5. Reform Regulation and Funding for Long‑Term Outcomes

Regulation and funding come under equally sharp scrutiny. Many argue that the current model - with its five‑year political and regulatory cycles - is fundamentally misaligned with the 50‑year lifespan of energy infrastructure. The call is for simpler, more focused regulation that prioritises value for money and safety while giving regulators the authority to enforce meaningful change. The need is for long‑term investment mechanisms that move costs away from consumer bills and towards stable, predictable funding structures capable of supporting innovation and major infrastructure upgrades.

6. Move Faster - and Stop Over‑Strategising

Finally, there is a call for cultural change. There is widespread frustration at the industry’s tendency to over‑strategise and under‑deliver. While large organisations debate future use cases, smaller players are already in the market, testing ideas, launching products and learning from real customers. If the system were being rebuilt, it should embrace experimentation, iteration and real‑world learning rather than endless planning cycles. The future energy system must be as agile as the technologies it seeks to integrate.

Taken together, these insights paint a picture of a system that could have been simpler, smarter and more user‑centred if designed from scratch. Yet they also offer something more important: a blueprint for what the system could still become. These interviews describe a future built on better signals, better data, better connectivity, better collaboration, better regulation and a far better experience for the people who ultimately power the transition.

The energy transition is already underway, but if we truly want to get there, we may need to stop pretending that starting from here is good enough.

Want to find out more about our next video series – launching from Future of Utilities: Energy Transition in Amsterdam in March?  Sign up here.

Many thanks to all those that took part in December, and you can watch all the videos on our Youtube page here:

Chris Bernkopf from Podero

Mark Hewett from BFY (video coming soon!)

Mark Coyle from Good Energy (Video coming soon!)

Catharine Vama from Kraken

Sean Layerlie from Baalbek Insights

Will Ephraim From Eliq

Simon Weiher from Axpo

And Data and AI Consultant Magnus Cormack (Video coming soon!)