How UK Businesses Are Rethinking Energy Security

Businesses are building greater energy resilience through on-site generation

Energy has remained a prime operational challenge for UK businesses in 2026. Ofgem confirmed in August that the domestic energy price cap will rise by 4% from October, driven in part by higher international gas prices. While it’s true that commercial energy contracts operate differently, the same wholesale markets influence the prices – and some of the challenges – that businesses ultimately face. The Office for National Statistics found that 61% of businesses expressed concern about energy prices in early August, while 25% of trading businesses considering price increases cited energy costs.

There are some silver linings here. The National Energy System Operator expects Great Britain to have sufficient gas under normal weather conditions into the 2030s, while its modelling identifies risks in more severe stress scenarios. The UK government is also reviewing how gas infrastructure should adapt as domestic production declines and the energy system changes.

That said, for boards and senior operational teams, exposure remains a real practical issue, with movement in the energy markets continuing to remain outside any individual organisation’s control. With market volatility now commonplace, it’s becoming clear that on-site generation like solar PV should be included alongside procurement, efficiency and longer-term site planning in conversations on operational strategy.

Energy security enters the investment case

Most larger organisations already use a range of approaches to manage energy costs and risk, from supply contracts and power purchase agreements to efficiency measures and demand management. Now, solar is seen as a viable addition to that wider strategy, reducing the amount of electricity a business needs to buy from the market.

The investment still needs to stand up on its own merits, including system cost, expected generation, financing and return. But increasingly, businesses are weighing those figures alongside the longer-term benefit of making a portion of their energy costs more predictable.

This direction can also be seen in government policy. In its 2026 work on Corporate Power Purchase Agreements, the UK Government highlighted business demand for stable, competitively priced electricity and noted growing investment in on-site and near-site low-carbon generation. More recently, Great British Energy launched the first £30 million wave of its People’s Power programme, supporting councils and community energy groups to own and develop their own clean energy projects. Although aimed at communities rather than commercial businesses, it reflects a wider shift towards greater ownership of the energy assets supplying buildings and local areas.

What we are hearing from businesses

Today, SolarSense is seeing a broader set of questions appear earlier in commercial conversations. Payback and carbon reduction remain important, while customers investing in solar are also asking how much of their demand they could cover themselves, whether storage changes the picture, how future electrification might affect system sizing, and which sites across an estate deserve investment first.

Finance, operations and estates teams are often involved in those discussions alongside sustainability functions. A solar project may therefore be judged simultaneously as a capital investment, an energy-procurement decision, a decarbonisation measure and part of a wider property strategy.

Russell Mees, Managing Director of SolarSense, said:

“Clients still want a clear payback, as they should. But the range of questions around it has widened. We are being asked more often about self-consumption, storage, future site demand and what happens if energy prices move again.

“Businesses are thinking further ahead about their energy position. Where solar works technically and financially, owning some generation can give them more control over a portion of their electricity requirement. The investment still has to stand up on the site data and the commercial case, and that is where the conversation should start.”

From individual projects to estate strategy

For organisations with multiple properties, energy security can become a portfolio question. The strongest opportunities are rarely distributed evenly across an estate, so prioritisation matters. High daytime loads, suitable space, secure long-term occupation and a favourable electrical connection can make one site substantially more attractive than another.

Freedom Leisure is a good recent example. After annual energy costs across its estate rose from around £8 million to £22 million, the organisation reviewed where renewable-energy investment could make the greatest impact. A ten-site SolarSense programme is projected to generate more than 1.51GWh of renewable electricity each year, with battery storage used where the individual site case supports it.

The estate-wide approach is relevant well beyond the leisure sector. It allows capital to be directed towards sites where generation is most likely to displace purchased electricity and deliver a credible return. Other sites may be better served by efficiency measures, operational changes or later investment.

Where on-site generation fits

A resilient energy strategy for most businesses will continue to involve the grid and an external supplier. It may also include PPAs, efficiency measures, better monitoring, flexible demand and investment in electrification. On-site generation can sit alongside those decisions by reducing the amount of electricity exposed to future procurement and turning part of the organisation’s energy requirement into a long-lived productive asset.

Its strategic value will vary by site. The strongest case exists where the underlying project economics are already sound and where the organisation places a real value on cost visibility, self-consumption and long-term control.

Wholesale prices, network charges, regulation and geopolitics will keep changing, and senior teams cannot remove that uncertainty from the market. They can, however, make deliberate choices about the volume of electricity they buy, the efficiency with which they use it, and the assets they own to meet part of their demand.