Every pathway toward economywide decarbonization drives straight through a dramatic transformation in the electricity sector. But so much of the discussion in that sector focuses on the supply side: How fast will wind and solar displace fossil fuels? What will happen with natural gas? But there’s another important player in this game: the energy consumer. Consumers’ preferences, motives and decisions can be confusing when it comes to energy. It’s hard to discern how much we actually care about it in the first place and what we’ll pay for.

Most sectors that have undergone dramatic transformation have been driven by changing customer behavior, and energy may be no different. So we need to understand the consumer and find ways to deliver them products and services that will accelerate the energy transition. They discuss the different groups of clean-energy customers, how they respond to options and how a changing regulatory landscape could influence behavior. Support for The Interchange comes from Trina Solar, […]