Study: Most businesses say a quarter of energy will be generated on-site by 2025

Solar panel

Most businesses plan to take control of their own energy use by generating a quarter of their electricity onsite by 2025, according to a study released by Centrica Business Solutions.

The study of over 1,000 businesses works to identify the drivers and barriers to adopting new energy approaches including battery storage, on-site generation and demand response.

Among the study’s findings:

  • Eighty-one percent of surveyed businesses said they plan to generate a quarter of their electricity on-site in seven years.
  • Approximately a quarter of businesses have invested in on-site generation in the form of solar and/or combined heat and power. A third are currently investing in these technologies.
  • About 44 percent of businesses said they plan to feed energy into the grid into the future.
  • Thirty-five percent of U.S. businesses consider themselves to have formalized an energy strategy.

“It’s necessary for businesses to take control of their energy use and have an actionable energy strategy in place whether that includes goals for resilience measures, emissions targets, or increased onsite generation,” Stephen Prince, head of Centrica Business Solutions North America, said. “Centrica Business Solutions has experience in helping U.S. businesses develop comprehensive energy plans with clearly defined actions, targets and budgets against them. We are passionate about helping large energy users achieve that ambitious 2025 prediction of at least a quarter of energy being generated onsite.”

The study was of businesses from the U.S., Canada, Germany, Italy, the U.K. and Ireland that identified ‘energy leaders’. Energy leaders are defined as businesses that have adopted strategies to use energy efficiently and effectively. These businesses also report strong financial performance.

The research is described in the Energy Advantage Report.