Find out why businesses know they need to move faster on energy innovation, yet uncertainty is making them more cautious about taking action.
Not as a future concern, but as a present, strategic pressure. Volatile costs, rising resilience risks, grid constraints and tightening decarbonisation expectations are converging - forcing leadership teams to rethink how energy is managed and prioritized. The question is no longer whether energy strategy matters. It’s how organisations move forward when every option comes with trade-offs.
Our research highlights a growing tension at the heart of this challenge. 69% of leaders say rising costs and resilience risks are accelerating energy innovation. Yet at the same time, 72% would prefer to wait for greater certainty before committing to major decisions. This hesitation is understandable - but it is also becoming unsustainable.
It is increasingly shaped by external forces: geopolitical instability influencing global markets, structural grid constraints limiting progress, and rising expectations from customers, regulators and investors alike. Within this environment, there are no perfect choices. Lower-cost energy does not always align with lower-carbon outcomes and building resilience often requires upfront investment. Decarbonisation ambitions can stall against infrastructure limitations, therefore; the challenge is not a lack of ambition - It is a lack of confidence.
Encouragingly, that confidence is beginning to build. 81% of organisations say they are willing to experiment with new technologies to establish long-term investment cases. At the same time, AI is starting to reshape how decisions are made, with automation expected to play a growing role in optimising energy performance. However; intent alone does not move organisations forward. Many remain caught in a cycle of caution - waiting for clearer signals before acting.
And that may be the greatest risk of all; because in reality, clarity rarely arrives in full. Market volatility persists. Grid pressures intensify, and policy and regulation continue to evolve. In this context, delaying decisions does not reduce risk - it often shifts organisations into a reactive position, forcing them to respond to change rather than shape it. The organisations that will lead in this transition are not those with perfect foresight. They are those with enough visibility to act.
Access to real-time data - on consumption, cost exposure and carbon performance transforms decision-making. It allows businesses to navigate trade-offs with greater precision, test new approaches with confidence, and build momentum through informed action. Ultimately, energy strategy is becoming a question of mindset as much as infrastructure. The organisations that succeed will not wait for uncertainty to disappear. They will build the confidence to move forward despite it.
For insight on how 500 organisations, from a range of energy-intensive sectors are tackling these competing pressures on the path to a more resilient energy strategy , click below to download our latest report The Power Paradox.
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