Energy. It's basically a market where suppliers supply and residents pay bills. In fact it's not really a market at all. There are very few choices for most of us to make.
But that's changing thanks to low carbon technology. And the change is profound. Electricity can now be the common fuel for all our power needs including our heating and cars. Furthermore we can start to play a role in production through solar and supply through batteries. There are more functions that electricity can serve, more kit available and more tech to control it. A market is starting to form.
Do I pay fixed prices or take a time of use tariff? Do I bolt a battery to my wall or put the money towards an EV? Is it time for air conditioning? Do I get some plug-in solar panels or a bigger rooftop array? Would a heat battery squeeze more out of my heat pump? Which energy management system will best optimise my home and lower my bills? How can I finance all this new kit?
We used to think of phones, TV, newspapers, films and radio as very different things. Now they're all part of one world of media and entertainment, a single system where choices multiply and new services spring up around them. Energy is heading the same way. Bill payers become shoppers.
And when people have more choice, suppliers need to get much more clued into their needs. It's why market research is such an important service in established shopper markets: food, media, retail, consumer packaged goods. Market research in home energy is much less established. And one tracking survey covering the whole societal switch to low carbon technology is unheard of.
Three years ago I created HETS. After a career building and running a specialist market research agency, YouthSight, and developing five tracking studies for an industry that was marketising (higher education), I decided to do something similar in a topic I'm passionate about: decarbonisation through electrification.
HETS started tracking consumer choice in this market before we were even in the foothills. We are now, but there's a vast way to go. Drop me a line if this story resonates or you'd like to see HETS in action.
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