Power to the people

Andy Compton, director at Compton Energy Associates and Matthew Brown, energy lawyer at LexisNexis, examine the rise of the energy 'prosumer'.

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There’s a perfect storm in the energy market likely to radically alter how our electricity is supplied in future, bringing with it some unexpected opportunities for individuals as new business models come to the fore.

While the increased penetration of medium and small scale energy suppliers in the domestic supply market is a well-established trend, there is a far more fundamental factor at play: changes in where and how electricity is produced and stored, and how electricity usage is monitored, have the potential to dramatically shift our relationship with the energy system.

Step forward the ‘prosumer’ – an individual who is both an electricity consumer and a producer. Although still a relatively new concept, there are a number of incentives involved in being a prosumer that make it an attractive option for the business minded. At present this type of production is mostly through privately-owned solar panels, but it could soon involve and encompass a whole array of other technology types.

Take electric cars for example.

With electric cars (or simply ‘EVs’) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) becoming increasingly prevalent (the Committee on Climate Change has stated that the majority of cars and vans should be electric by 2030[1]), more and more consumers will find themselves (almo