Getting to net zero will require significant changes to how households use energy. If decarbonisation policies are successful, people will adopt electric vehicles, heat pumps and other green technologies in much higher numbers. Balancing energy supply and demand will become more complex and the ability to use energy ‘flexibly’ will be increasingly important.

This has major implications for the retail energy market. Britain’s current energy retail model has been around for 30 years and is based on the supplier hub model, where suppliers act as the single link between customers and the wholesale energy market.

This report asks how the electricity retail market could be designed to better support the delivery of net zero.

The main issues identified with the current retail market structure range from a lack of financial incentives to help customers reduce consumption, to low margins and regulatory complexity limiting innovation.