Claire Slade, Data & Communications Manager, Major Energy Users’ Council (MEUC)
For many energy managers, the job has traditionally been defined by a relatively familiar set of priorities: securing supply, managing contracts, monitoring consumption, controlling costs and keeping the business informed about changes in the energy market.
Those responsibilities are not going away. But over the next three years, they are likely to become part of a much bigger and more complex role — and this is a role MEUC, the Major Energy Users’ Council, exists to support.
The direction of travel is clear. As renewable generation grows, demand becomes more flexible and the UK works towards its 2030 clean power ambitions, businesses face continued pressure to control costs, decarbonise operations and justify investment — and no individual energy manager can be expected to navigate all of that alone.
Two shifts illustrate the scale of the change. Businesses are increasingly being encouraged to change when and how they use electricity — shifting demand, managing storage, adjusting processes or participating in flexibility markets. That creates opportunities, but also questions: Is the existing infrastructure capable of responding to price signals? Is there enough data to understand the demand profile? Who within the business owns the decision — energy, operations, finance, sustainability or procurement?
At the same time, many businesses are considering electrification, on-site generation, storage, heat pumps, hydrogen, PPAs and other technologies. Each may have a compelling case in isolation, but the challenge is understanding how they interact with procurement, network capacity, operational resilience, capital investment and long-term strategy.
In other words, the question is becoming less “What is the best energy contract?” and more “What energy system does our business need?”
Policy will matter too
The policy environment adds another layer. For eligible energy-intensive manufacturers, the British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme (BICS) is due to begin in April 2027, exempting eligible businesses from certain electricity policy costs. Following the Government’s April 2026 update, the scheme now covers more than 10,000 businesses, with support expected to cut electricity costs by up to 25% for those eligible.
For those who qualify, this could materially change the economics of procurement and investment. BICS is only one part of the picture, though. Energy managers will also need to keep an eye on market arrangements, network costs, carbon policy, grid connections and water resilience.
None of this happens in isolation. A decision to electrify a process can increase electricity demand. Increased demand can create a network constraint. That constraint can affect the timing and cost of a project. The resulting load profile can influence procurement decisions — while the business may also be weighing a PPA, on-site generation or flexibility.
From managing energy to managing the portfolio
This is perhaps the biggest change facing the energy manager: the role is becoming less about managing individual commodities, contracts or projects, and more about understanding the organisation’s entire utilities portfolio — which means new conversations inside the business.
Energy managers may increasingly find themselves working alongside finance teams on investment cases, operations teams on flexibility, procurement on risk, sustainability teams on decarbonisation and senior management on competitiveness and resilience. It also means good data becomes essential — an organisation can’t decide which sites to electrify, or whether a procurement strategy makes sense, without confidence in the underlying information.
For many organisations, therefore, the next three years will involve not just doing more but joining things up better.
The value of the community
This is one reason the energy management community matters. MEUC brings together major energy and water users alongside organisations working across the wider utilities sector, providing a forum for information, discussion and the exchange of practical experience.
That peer perspective is particularly valuable when there is no obvious template to follow: What are other major users doing about flexibility? How are they approaching procurement? Where are they investing? What has worked — and, perhaps more importantly, what has not?
Looking towards 2030
This is the context for MEUC’s Buying and Using Utilities Live Autumn 2026, taking place on Wednesday 14 October at AMTC, Coventry.
The theme is “The Next Three Years: Managing your energy and water portfolio through to 2030” — a deliberately practical focus on the decisions major users need to make as cost, carbon, data, capacity and investment considerations increasingly overlap. The event also takes place as the BICS process moves towards implementation, making the timing particularly relevant for eligible businesses.
The event won’t provide a single answer to what the future energy system looks like — few organisations could realistically expect one. Instead, the value lies in stepping back from the immediate pressures of contracts, projects and individual issues to consider how the pieces fit together, alongside hearing from experts and other major users facing many of the same questions.
Because 2030 is no longer a distant strategic target. For an energy manager, it is already influencing today’s procurement decisions, investment cases, infrastructure plans and conversations with senior management.
The next three years will require energy managers to look beyond the traditional boundaries of their role, connecting market knowledge with operational reality, financial priorities, decarbonisation and long-term strategy. Buying and Using Utilities Live Autumn 2026 is where that conversation starts.
Register now
Buying and Using Utilities Live Autumn 2026
Wednesday 14 October 2026 | AMTC, Coventry | 09.00–17.00
The event is free to attend for MEUC members and other major energy and water end-users. For more info and to register, visit www.meucnetwork.co.uk/events/buu-live-autumn26
This article appeared in the September 2026 issue of Energy Manager magazine. Subscribe here.
