Enabling conditions for consumer-centric business models in the UK energy market
File(s)
Published version
Author(s)
Hardy, Jeffrey
Mazur, Christoph
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
To achieve ambitious UK decarbonisation targets, consumers will need to engage with energy services more so than they have done to date. This engagement could be active or delegated, where in the latter consumers pass responsibility for engagement to a third party in return for ceding some control over decisions. To date, insight into the barriers to consumer adoption of future business models has been limited. To address this gap this study explored benefits, risks and enabling conditions using two extreme consumer-centric business models, 3rd Party Control and Shared Economy, using elements of a backcasting approach. The approach yielded information from stakeholders on what would have to be true for one of the business models to dominate the market. The results show substantial agreement across the expert groups on five key issues that will need to be addressed in the near-term to enable energy business model innovation in the UK market. These are: (1) Space to enable business model innovation is crucial; (2) Smart devices and data must be interoperable and secure; (3) Energy businesses need to improve service standards; (4) Solutions are required for consumers in all situations; and (5) Targeted carbon regulation is required.
Date Issued
2020-09
Date Acceptance
2020-08-31
Citation
Frontiers in Energy Research, 2020, 8, pp.1-14
ISSN
2296-598X
Publisher
Frontiers Media
Start Page
1
End Page
14
Journal / Book Title
Frontiers in Energy Research
Volume
8
Copyright Statement
© 2020 Hardy and Mazur. This is an open-access article distributed under
the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use,
distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original
author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication
in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use,
distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use,
distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original
author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication
in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use,
distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
License URL
Sponsor
Economic & Social Research Council (ESRC)
Identifier
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fenrg.2020.528415/pdf
Grant Number
ES/M500562/1
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
528415
Date Publish Online
2020-09-25