The top two barriers to mitigating high energy costs are a lack of solutions with immediate impact and environmental considerations limiting options, both cited by 63 per cent in a PwC survey.

According to a new survey of 750 UK organisations, conducted by PwC in November and December 2023 from a mix of both private and public sector, 77 per cent said high energy costs had driven up the price of their products and services.

However, few organisations have taken action to collectively reduce energy costs and carbon emissions, with many seeing the two as seemingly competing objectives. Nearly two thirds of respondents ranked ‘environmental commitments’ among their top five barriers to mitigating energy costs. Additionally, over a third (37 per cent) said high energy costs had delayed their progress on decarbonisation, with only 3 per cent saying they had accelerated progress.

Where it has been implemented, energy security (61 per cent) and regulation (58 per cent) ranked as the main drivers of decarbonisation efforts, with the latter becoming the most important for businesses thinking in two years’ time (60 per cent).

This is, in part, due to respondents being divided on their energy strategy objectives and seeing them as incompatible. Reducing energy consumption (27 per cent), reducing carbon emissions (26 per cent) and reducing energy costs (26 per cent) all held similar priority as a main energy strategy objective. Popular cost mitigation efforts by respondents included reviewing energy procurement strategies (37 per cent fully adopted, and the same percentage in progress), improving energy efficiency (31 per cent fully adopted, 44 per cent in progress) and adopting corporate power purchase agreements (69 per cent either fully adopted or in progress).

Another, and worrying factor, was the lack of understanding of energy at board level, with 43 per cent of respondents, with 45 per cent citing the same lack of understanding across their entire organisation.

---