For some time we've been talking about the move to 'Energy as a service' and 'Mobility as a service' as the future of both sectors. This short article highlights how energy providers must echo what has happened to mobile comms. You pay a set fee, based on approximate volumes, and all texts, calls and data are 'free' within your monthly tariff. I see no reason that energy can't be the same, indeed it must. One of our clients, Sonnen, has been leading the way in this field with Sonnen Community and Sonnen Flat. It's hardly surprising to see their growth and the investors lining up to to support them.
Mobility as service, or Transport as a service as Tony Sebe refers to it, may be slightly more challenging, but is starting to happen all the same.
Tim Rotheray, chief executive at the Association for Decentralised Energy, argued strongly that if suppliers are to truly deliver the kind of change necessary to meet the aims of such policy and, by extension, climate-related decarbonisation goals, then they will need to change their approach. “The thing that I conclude is that the kilowatt hour has got to die. You can't sell commodities which every new policy says you want [consumers] to buy less of and use more differently. We've got to change that,” he said.
