Executive Dialogue – Consumers at the Forefront

Consumers, in particular female consumers, are an often overlooked dimension in the Clean Energy Transition. The low-cost demand-side flexibility offered by consumers, coupled with advanced digital technologies, has allowed consumers to play an increasingly active role in the energy system by complementing the increased variability in electricity supply, driven by renewable generation. Women can play a key role in driving responsible consumption and production behaviors throughout value chains. This Executive Dialogue on ‘Consumer at The Forefront’ will discuss recent shifts in consumer preferences, and how Big Data, Internet of Things (IoT), and digital twins can be harnessed to place consumers at the forefront of the energy system transformation.
Advanced digital technologies are changing the game by shifting the balance of power away from centralized, vertically integrated utilities towards decentralized and local energy production and storage. Technology is equipping consumers with more information and knowledge than ever before, thereby enabling the expansion of new market models such as energy communities, prosumers, and peer-to-peer trading. Acknowledging the crucial role of the consumer in shaping our future energy systems, Roundtable 1 on ‘Driving Change’ will explore the necessary policy and regulatory framework required to enable consumers to contribute to a flexible and green energy system. This roundtable will address the different needs and priorities of women and men, girls and boys, and examine gender-responsive policy formulation.
• Under the Energy as a Service (EaaS) model, energy is no longer a commodity but a service from which consumers are demanding both cost-effectiveness and sustainability. It allows both consumers and society to reap the benefits of cleaner energy generation while avoiding often prohibitively high up-front capital investments. Roundtable 2 on ‘New Services’ will delve into opportunities for EaaS providers to align services to end-user behavior, considering gender dimensions, thus facilitating demand and further supporting the expansion of renewables.