Why we need ourPower
We need ourPower to inform decision-makers about the energy future that energy users want, to help ensure that people and communities are heard and that their interest are reflected in policies, products and services.
Energy is an essential service. It plays a critical role in the health and wellbeing of people and powers the economy.
The energy system is changing rapidly and profoundly, as shown below.
In the old centralised system, energy was generated by a few large coal and gas plants and then transported often long distances to passive energy users.
Today, with the need to decarbonise the system to tackle the climate crisis and the decline in cost of renewable energy, fossil fuels are being replaced by renewable energy. The centralised system is also being replaced by a more decentralised system in which energy users can generate, store and trade as well as consume their own energy.
Rooftop solar is leading the way, but will increasingly be complemented by home and community scale batteries, electric vehicles, smart homes and flexible demand. All these technologies have the potential to be shared in local communities and the wider market at a relatively low cost, as the system is transformed.
But ‘rewiring’ the energy system is not just an engineering task. Because energy is so tightly enmeshed in our economy and society, changing the way we relate to energy has big implications for how we live and work.
If we get it right, in the future energy won’t just be clean, it will also be cheaper and fairer for everyone. But if we get it wrong – and if energy choices become even more complicated – people who can’t afford or access the technology could be left behind. Energy users could also end up paying for overpriced infrastructure that becomes obsolete as new and better technologies emerge.
