Chair: Richard Howard, Policy Exchange
Speakers: Jonathan Reynolds MP, Member of Business, Innovation and Skills Select Committee | Mark Futyan, Centrica | Lucy Symons, Open Energi

The power system is changing rapidly, with a trend towards decarbonisation, digitisation, and decentralisation. A significant amount of large-scale coal, gas and nuclear generation has closed, replaced by renewables and smaller scale generation. The growth of wind and solar power is placing additional demands on the system, creating a need for a more flexible system. At the same time, the advent of smart controls and distributed generation is enabling consumers to become ‘prosumers’ – reducing their energy costs and generating additional revenues from the market. Power storage technology is quickly coming of age due to the rapid decline in the cost of batteries.

Yet there are still many policy and regulatory barriers to the development of these technologies. Addressing these barriers could create a smarter power system fit for the 21st century.