For major energy users, the next three years are unlikely to be defined by one big energy decision. Instead, a series of decisions—often made by different people, at different times and with different priorities—will collectively shape the cost, resilience and performance of the energy and water portfolio through to 2030.
Procurement strategy. Energy efficiency. Flexibility. Water resilience. Network capacity. Data quality. Investment decisions. Carbon reduction. Regulatory change.
All of these are becoming increasingly connected.
That creates a challenge for energy and utilities professionals. It is no longer enough to understand what is happening in the market. The bigger question is what those changes mean for your own estate—and which decisions need to be made now.
That is the thinking behind this year’s Buying and Using Utilities Live, taking place at AMTC in Coventry on 14 October. Under the theme “The Next Three Years: Managing your energy and water portfolio through to 2030”, MEUC is bringing major energy users and industry experts together to look beyond individual issues and consider the bigger picture.
The timing is particularly relevant, with applications opening for the British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme (BICS). But BICS is just one part of a much wider conversation about how businesses should manage energy costs, risk and investment over the coming years.
From information to action
One of the challenges facing energy managers is not a lack of information. It is deciding what to do with it.
Better data may reveal unexplained baseload, billing errors, poor meter mapping or operational drift. New flexible assets may offer opportunities to reduce costs or generate revenue. A changing consumption profile may expose limitations in an existing supply contract. A new project may run into capacity constraints. Water risks that once sat outside the energy conversation may suddenly become operationally critical.
The Autumn 2026 programme has been designed around these kinds of practical questions.
Sessions will examine everything from procurement, efficiency and technology to water resilience, flexible assets, capacity agreements and the growing impact of network, policy and infrastructure costs. Delegates will also look at how to prioritise projects across an estate when there are more opportunities than available budget, time or internal resource.
But perhaps just as important as the presentations is what happens between them.
The value of the room
Energy management can sometimes be a surprisingly solitary role. Even in large organisations, there may be only a handful of people responsible for making sense of energy costs, contracts, data, projects and changing regulation.
Being part of a community of people dealing with similar issues provides something that reports and market updates cannot: context.
What are other businesses prioritising? Which questions are they asking suppliers? Where are they finding opportunities? What assumptions are they challenging? What problems have they encountered that others could avoid?
That exchange is central to the MEUC approach.
Throughout BUU Live, delegates will have opportunities to question speakers, challenge assumptions and share their own experience. The programme deliberately includes open “Engage, Query and Learn” sessions, networking breaks and an exhibition, creating space for conversations that can continue beyond the formal agenda.
The day will finish with MEUC 7×7, bringing seven-minute provocations on topics including the “proof gap” around savings and carbon, capacity audits, the future direction of the energy and water markets, and a live return to the opening “Portfolio Shock Test” to see whether delegates’ priorities have changed.
Looking beyond the next bill
The value of being part of the MEUC community is ultimately about having somewhere to test your thinking.
Energy and utilities decisions rarely happen in isolation. They affect finance, operations, sustainability, procurement, capital investment and business continuity. Having access to people with different perspectives can help turn a complex issue into a better question—and sometimes a better decision.
That is what BUU Live is designed to provide: not a day of answers delivered from a stage, but a day of information, challenge, discussion and connections that can help major energy users think more clearly about what comes next.
Because managing the next three years is not simply about predicting what will happen.
It is about being prepared to respond when it does.
You can reserve your place at Buying & Using Utilities LIVE here
This article appeared in the October 2026 issue of Energy Manager magazine. Subscribe here.
