Why energy security is now a business-critical issue

Some resources are so fundamental that without them, business comes to a standstill. Labour, capital, raw materials, and information are the obvious ones. Among those raw materials is electricity.

For decades, energy sat in the background—seen as dependable, low-risk, and almost invisible. It was treated like stationery or cleaning products: a routine cost, assumed to be unlimited and unproblematic. That mindset is shifting fast.

Because when the power cuts out, everything stops. The recent blackout at Heathrow and failures across Spain’s national grid made that reality impossible to ignore. Energy isn’t just another input—it’s the lifeblood of modern business. And when it fails, the consequences are immediate: no electricity means no business.

The hidden risk in your operations

Most business continuity plans mention electricity—but usually as a box to tick: a backup generator, maybe an untested system buried in the appendix. What’s often missing is a clear understanding of how and when you actually use electricity. Without that visibility, even minor interruptions can lead to significant disruptions.

And this isn’t just about sudden outages. Rising demand, pressure on grids, and uncertainty around renewables all contribute to a more fragile energy landscape. If electricity is a key input to your operations, as fundamental as money or people, it deserves the same strategic attention.

Energy visibility is risk resilience

You can’t control the grid, but you can control your demand. And that starts with insight. Understanding where energy is used, when it peaks, and where it’s wasted isn’t just about hitting sustainability targets—it’s about keeping your business running.

Reducing unnecessary demand strengthens resilience. It means your operations are less vulnerable to price spikes, infrastructure strain, or supply limitations. It might even mean your critical systems can run on a smaller generator if needed. If your business plans to grow, optimisation of current use means that growth is not restricted by an electrical grid connection, for example, and can be achieved with lower costs.

The businesses that do best in the face of energy volatility are those that don’t leave it to chance. They build clarity around demand, optimise what they control, and act before disruption hits.

Energy security isn’t just about supply. It’s about knowing how your business uses energy—and what happens when it’s no longer there.

Stop wasting your energy

A recent Masterclass with OPNBuildings, HaysMac and Crystal Associates explored why many sustainability strategies fall short. The discussion highlighted a consistent pattern: leaders focus on carbon targets without understanding the energy systems that need to support them. Because when energy is ignored, every decarbonisation plan stands on weak foundations.

Why decarbonisation efforts fail

Many organisations treat carbon as the outcome. This creates the false impression that carbon reduction is the primary goal. Carbon is only a measure: sustainability depends on understanding how energy is used and where it is lost. Companies often assume unlimited capacity or rely on offsets rather than improving performance. This widens the credibility gap around net-zero commitments.

Decarbonisation fails when energy is not measured, tracked, or managed accurately. Leaders struggle to predict future demand. And this only makes sense: working with spreadsheets and fragmented information, it’s easy to overlook inefficiencies. Without the right insights, it’s easy to miss early signs that systems are not performing as expected. This leads to ambitious plans built on uncertain ground. Money is wasted. Capacity is strained. Strategy becomes noise rather than impact.

Treat energy as a necessary input

A stronger approach begins with treating energy as a critical input. Organisations need clear scenario planning: the ability to map goals, constraints, and baselines in one place. A structured way to review progress and adapt.

The message is clear. Stop wasting energy. Build sustainability on real insight and real performance. Understand demand, capacity, and efficiency. Only then can sustainability plans become credible, deliverable, and financially sound.

The risk no one’s managing

Every well-run organisation understands the importance of risk management. Identifying, avoiding, and mitigating risk is second nature in finance, operations, and governance. Yet when it comes to energy, that discipline often disappears.

For decades, energy was treated as a relatively stable cost and a guaranteed resource. Prices rarely moved enough to matter, and supply was assumed to be secure. So few organisations built the same level of systems or scrutiny around energy that they did around financial or operational risk.

That complacency is now becoming a liability. Who’s managing the risk connected to the energy that keeps your operations going?

A new landscape of risk

Energy risk today looks nothing like it did a generation ago. The shift from fossil fuels to electrification has created new dependencies — and new vulnerabilities.

Oil and gas once offered security of supply. Now, as demand for low-carbon electricity accelerates, networks are struggling to keep up. Utilities are imposing caps on the amount of power they can guarantee, and access to electricity — once taken for granted — is no longer guaranteed.

It’s easy to say, “Let’s use energy more efficiently.” But that’s impossible without the right structures, frameworks, and insight into how energy is actually used. Without accurate data or reliable reporting, efficiency slips quietly. Equipment drifts from design performance. Processes waste energy unseen. What starts small becomes costly — unnecessary spending, wasted capacity, and growing exposure to energy volatility.

And that brings us back to the real issue: risk. When supply is limited, waste isn’t just inefficient. It’s unsustainable.

Managing energy as a core business risk

Energy can no longer be excluded from the risk framework. Understanding where it comes from, how it’s used, and how it might be managed is fundamental to operational continuity.

And managing energy starts with visibility. Reliable data systems, clear forecasting, and regular reporting are the foundation of control. When organisations treat energy with the same rigour as finance — structured systems, auditable data, and forward-looking planning — they not only reduce waste but build resilience.

Because if something is essential to keeping your business running, it deserves to be managed like every other critical risk.

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Why energy risk now sits on the CFO’s desk

Access to capital now depends on clarity.

Banks, investors, insurers, and regulators are no longer waiting for organisations to act voluntarily on sustainability. They’re setting the terms. If a company can’t show credible, verifiable data on its carbon and energy performance, its ability to borrow, insure, or attract investment will start to tighten.

That responsibility now lands with the CFO. Frameworks like the IFRS sustainability standards are reshaping how business value and risk are measured, and energy data sits right at the centre. The quality of that data will decide whether a sustainability report holds weight — and whether a company can prove it's managing risk responsibly.

The missing link in financial governance

Most finance leaders assume their organisations already have reliable data. But in reality, energy and associated carbon information is often scattered, incomplete, or unverifiable. It sits in different systems, owned by different teams, and is rarely audited. That gap leaves sustainability disclosures exposed and puts credibility on the line.

Finance teams are used to basing every decision on solid evidence. Forecasts, budgets, and cash flow all rely on structured, traceable data. Energy performance should be no different.

Without the same discipline as shown to the financial aspects of the business, decarbonisation plans are just educated guesses.

From compliance to control

Financial planning and decarbonisation are connected. Every spending decision affects both cost and carbon. Managing that balance takes the same structure and accountability that finance already applies to reporting and risk.

Energy data needs to be treated like financial data: it must be consistent, auditable, and ready for scrutiny. Achieving that means linking finance, operations, and sustainability around shared standards and integrated systems.

Technology helps close the gap. Real-time monitoring, scenario planning and reporting tools can turn energy performance into something measurable and dependable — a financial metric that informs investment decisions, supports compliance, and protects access to capital.

Clarity as a measure of value

Energy risk is financial risk. Treating it that way builds resilience and trust, both with regulators and with the market. Clear and reliable energy data is no longer a nice-to-have; it is a must-have.

Clarity now defines credibility. And credibility decides access to capital.

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Rethinking hot water safety in a net-zero context

In many organisations, compliance with Legionella regulations is a well-established routine: maintaining elevated water temperatures, flushing outlets regularly, and logging the activity. These measures are vital for safety, but they weren’t designed with energy or carbon efficiency in mind.

Domestic hot water systems are often significant energy users, yet their impact is frequently overlooked in broader sustainability strategies. Especially in large or complex buildings, maintaining consistently high temperatures across an entire network can come at a notable carbon cost.

A balance between risk and efficiency

Much of the current approach stems from a desire to avoid risk. Heating water above 60 °C offers reassurance that bacterial growth is being controlled. But this often results in systems running constantly, regardless of actual usage or need. In practice, that could mean heating and reheating water that’s never used, or flushing litres down the drain as part of routine checks.

It raises a question worth exploring: are all the measures in place today still necessary in every context, or are some driven more by precedent than performance?

Understanding actual demand, outlet use, and temperature trends may help reveal where adjustments are possible - without compromising safety. But doing so requires the right data and a willingness to reassess long-held assumptions.

A more integrated view

Rather than viewing compliance and carbon as competing priorities, there may be scope to align them. Tools now exist to monitor temperature patterns more closely, control systems more precisely, and target interventions where they’re most needed.

Some organisations are already starting to explore this intersection - using insight to reduce energy use while continuing to meet safety requirements. It’s not about lowering standards, but about working smarter within them.

For organisations aiming to reduce operational emissions, domestic hot water systems may offer more opportunities than previously thought. The question is no longer just how to stay compliant, but how to do so in a way that also supports broader sustainability goals.