Our client objectives

Nesta, a UK innovation agency for social good, asked us to develop a report providing viewpoints on whether the current retail market best supports the energy transition and what the alternative approaches might look like. The client encouraged us to produce a broad range of options for reform, to spark further debate across the sector.

Our approach

We identified limitations in the current retail electricity market and considered how different options for reform could address these issues, allowing us to develop a set of new market models and assess their effectiveness in facilitating the energy transition. To further refine these models, we sought out lessons from international markets and other sectors.

To ensure the report represented views from a wide range of stakeholders, we interviewed representatives from energy retailers, government and regulators, academics, trade bodies and consumer organisations.

Having developed our options further based on stakeholder input, we worked with Nesta and Energy Systems Catapult to produce the Future of Energy Retail report, striving to make it understandable to a wide readership and relevant to policymakers to maximise its impact.

Outcomes

• We identified a wide range of innovative but feasible options for market reform

• We incorporated views from stakeholders representing a variety of perspectives, refining our models accordingly. 

• We set out our findings in a detailed report that is accessible to a broad readership and seeks to move the debate forward on how the retail market can be reformed to better support the energy transition.