Addressing Customer Experience Gaps

Following last weeks select committee there’s, rightly, been lots of discussion on the affordability of the decarbonisation of our energy system. We need the economic benefits investment in clean energy infrastructure brings, the jobs, the enduring benefit of an energy system fit for economic growth, based on home produced renewables, with less exposure to the global gas markets that drove the last energy crisis. The 6 million households in the UK in fuel poverty also need bills to come down today. Whilst I understand the argument that, when adjusted for inflation energy bills are no higher than they were a decade ago, this doesn’t help the many whose incomes haven’t kept pace with the cost of living. Abandoning, or significantly decelerating, the decarbonisation of our energy system isn’t a rational answer to this question. It would put at risk billions of pounds of investment, hundreds of thousands of jobs, ultimately lead to a higher cost of transition and risk missing out on a generational economic opportunity. We have to make new energy work for people, for businesses & for our society. For me the answer lies in greater focus on the people & communities the energy system is there to serve. Our work with Coventry City Council, utilising Warm Homes Discount Funding to install a battery and simple flex tariff in eligible customers homes, delivers annual savings of £255. Similar work with Northern Powergrid shows this approach can be used to alleviate network congestion too. This work is easily scalable. Remove the blockers to trading customers flexibility in multiple markets simultaneously & the savings potential grows, couple it with rooftop solar or participation in an energy community, it grows further. Our experience training 1300 apprentices shows the potential to create skilled work. Whilst we scale solutions such as this, we should act urgently to support customers. Moving legacy policy costs off bills, into taxation can be progressive, those of us with broader shoulders bearing more of the burden, whilst reducing electricity bills by nearly £150. Addressing marginal pricing, moving gas power stations into a strategic reserve, enabling customers to benefit from cheaper renewables more often, can deliver further savings. Mandating Smart for rental properties will help reduce energy debt whilst enabling these customers to benefit from time of use tariffs. Building on the extension of the warm homes discount, investing in targeted price support, co-funded by industry & government, such as we see in other markets will bring benefits that extend far beyond maintaining support for infrastructure investment. By helping those customers who need it most, generate, store and choose when they use energy; by making long discussed changes to policy, we can reap the benefits infrastructure investment brings and bring bills down, making new clean energy work for everyone.

🚗🔌 Rethinking EV Charger Success Rates: Measuring Success Among Successful Charging Attempts I recently reviewed Kempower's white paper on charging success rates (CSR) and charger uptime. https://lnkd.in/gyXTCSt6 While the data is impressive—showing a 94.3% technical success rate and 99% uptime—it's crucial to remember that these metrics tell only part of the story and clear what part and how important it is. Here’s why: 📉 Missing Failures: The CSR measures only recorded charging attempts. But what about chargers that are completely down, have a severed cable, or fail to record communication with the vehicle? These incidents aren't captured, leaving critical gaps in the data. 📊 Unknown Gaps: How many failures go unrecorded? Is it 1%, 10%, or even 90%? Without this information, the reported success rates may not fully reflect the user experience or system reliability. 🚘 Incorporating Vehicle Data: Charging attempt data from vehicles can provide crucial insights. For instance: Identifying attempts where communication failed to be recorded, preventing the session from even beginning. Tracking user avoidance of known unreliable chargers, offering a fuller view of the charging network's reliability. 🧑💻 Consumer-Centric Insights Needed: Metrics like CSR and uptime focus heavily on the infrastructure. To understand the real user experience, we need data from EVs and drivers themselves—cases where chargers were avoided or failures were detected at the vehicle level. 🔍 The Path Forward: (1) Avoid interpreting success rates without accounting for unmeasured scenarios. (2) Broaden data collection to include all failure types—both recorded and unrecorded. (3) Incorporate vehicle-level charging attempt data to enhance our understanding of EV-charging interactions. (4) Collect driver feedback to uncover real-world usability issues. While the current metrics are a step in the right direction, expanding our perspective will help us build an even more reliable and user-friendly charging network. Let’s ensure that the EV transition is not only about uptime but also about delivering a seamless and frustration-free experience for drivers. What are your thoughts on how we can improve EV charging metrics? Share your insights below! 👇 #EVCharging #Sustainability #ElectricVehicles #DataDrivenInsights #EVInfrastructure

Balancing Grid Reliability and Affordability: Solutions for Secure Energy Supply The future of the energy industry in my home state of #Texas holds immense promise, with the dynamic landscape poised for innovation, sustainability, and robust economic growth. Emphasizing the importance of offering solutions alongside criticisms of the status quo, I firmly believe in a balanced approach that places equal emphasis on reliability and environmental responsibility. At Sunnova Energy, we are actively engaged in developing #cleanenergy solutions that not only bolster grid resilience but also remain affordable for consumers. Proposed solutions encompass several key aspects: 1. Ownership Separation: It's essential to separate the ownership of transmission and distribution infrastructure (the "wires”) from ownership of generation assets. This separation fosters healthy competition, minimizes conflicts of interest, and enhances grid management. 2. Shareholder Incentives for Efficiency: To ensure that the transmission and distribution companies (“wires”) prioritize cost efficiency, shareholders need to benefit directly from spending cuts. Additionally, these companies should not be permitted to charge fixed charges that exceed 30% of the total rate, to safeguard consumers from excessive costs. 3. Equal Market Rules: Implementing uniform regulations for both small and large energy generation ensures a level playing field in the energy market, promoting competition and innovation that can lead to more affordable and dependable #energy options for consumers. 4. Transparent Data Sharing: Utilities must share customer energy use data in real-time to their customers’ preferred energy suppliers. This transparency will permit behind-the-meter resources to contribute more effectively to grid management and wholesale markets. 5. Ethical Financial Practices: To maintain the integrity of the regulatory process, utilities should be barred from using ratepayer funds for lobbying. And Public Utility Commission members, staff, community organizations, and media outlets should be prohibited from receiving such funds. Former PUC members should be barred from working for entities they once regulated, ensuring a clear separation between regulatory oversight and industry interests. These practical and realistic solutions ensure the protection of consumers and prioritizes their interests, while increasing the reliability and security of energy supply. Together, we can shape a more sustainable energy future that benefits all.

The Real Problem with #Public #EV #Charging – A Call for a Unified Solution As an EV user and industry professional, I recently faced a frustrating challenge—finding an available public charger for my vehicle. Despite trying multiple well-known charging apps, searching on Google, and even physically verifying locations, I couldn’t find a charger when I needed it. Ironically, one of the apps find to show an available charger three days later—far from real-time reliability. This highlights a major issue in the EV charging industry: fragmentation. Each charging provider operates on its own app, forcing consumers to juggle multiple platforms just to locate an available charger. Even when chargers are free, the lack of integration means users don’t always know. Utilization suffers, infrastructure remains underused, and revenue potential is lost. For public charging infrastructure to succeed, interoperability is key. However, a unified solution doesn’t mean a single app controlling all chargers—it means a "super app" that aggregates real-time data from all providers. Users should be able to see availability across networks in one place while still accessing chargers through their respective providers. A well-utilized charging network benefits everyone—providers, consumers, and the EV ecosystem as a whole. It’s time the industry comes together to solve this. Would love to hear thoughts from others in the EV space—how can we drive this change? #EVCharging #ElectricVehicles #SustainableMobility #EVInfrastructure #ChargingSolutions #Interoperability #SmartCharging #EVRevolution #GreenEnergy #EVAdoption #FutureOfMobility #TechForEVs #PublicCharging #EVUserExperience #SuperApp #ChargingNetwork

The Clean Energy Value Story We Need to Tell 🔍 After nearly 15 years in clean tech, a pattern has become clear: The solutions work, but our value story isn't resonating broadly enough. Working across high-growth startups and established organizations since 2011, I've watched our industry consistently prioritize policy goals over immediate customer needs. The IRA rollout is a perfect example - two years in, manufacturers have expanded capacity but contractors and consumers still struggle to access benefits or understand the value proposition. Over the last year, I've had countless conversations with business leaders about their market challenges. A consistent theme emerges: We're talking past our customers, not addressing their real needs. The contrast between intention and impact is striking: • We emphasize emissions while customers worry about rising costs • We focus on rebates while consumers need to understand total cost savings • We push electrification before addressing building performance and comfort • We market energy savings when health and resilience drive decisions Something I've learned selling solutions across diverse communities: I'd rather, and have more successfully sold clean tech in rural areas than urban centers. Why? Because when you focus on immediate value - lower operating costs, better building performance, protection from extreme weather - you build trust that transcends policy debates. Organizations frequently hire for policy expertise and within their networks over industry experience. Our messaging reflects this - we lead with future benefits while customers need solutions to today's problems. Meanwhile, small businesses and contractors lack the support needed to effectively deliver these solutions. But there's good news: When we lead with immediate value, the results are transformative. I've seen this consistently: 1. Focus on building performance and occupant health 2. Demonstrate resilience to extreme weather events  3. Show measurable outcomes and real cost savings 4. Build trust through proven results Consider an alternative approach: • What if we prioritized contractor success over $100B in manufacturing build out? • What if we made small businesses leaders rather than just implementers and beneficiaries? • What if we focused on solving immediate problems instead of long-term goals? • What if we measured success by customer outcomes not just deployment numbers? The path forward is clear: • Reframe around customer priorities • Support contractors in delivering verified outcomes • Create value today, not just promises for tomorrow • Make performance the product, not just clean energy The technology works. The economics work. Now we need to tell that story in a way that connects with real needs and priorities. Question for industry leaders: How can we better align our value proposition with the immediate needs of customers and contractors? #BuildingPerformance #CleanTech #ValueCreation #Resilience

Today less than 5 percent of multi-family housing has level 2 charging infrastructure. Most EV owners want to charge at home. Thus, the conundrum...how to solve EV charging for the 30 percent of Americans that live in multi-family...enter 3V Infrastructure! Today on the Clean Power Hour I had the pleasure of hosting Aubrey Gunnels, CEO and co-founder of 3V Infrastructure to discuss this critical gap in our EV charging ecosystem – multifamily housing. Aubrey's company is addressing this challenge with an innovative approach: installing and maintaining Level 2 chargers in multifamily properties at zero cost to building owners. Their data-driven methodology determines exactly how many chargers each property needs, and they generate revenue by adding a small premium to electricity rates. What struck me most about our conversation was 3V's focus on creating reliable infrastructure with clear economic incentives for maintenance – a critical factor given the notoriety of public charging reliability issues. This private-sector solution works regardless of policy changes and doesn't rely heavily on government subsidies. For property owners, EV charging is increasingly becoming a competitive necessity. As Aubrey noted, a recent survey showed 27% of renters consider EV charging availability when choosing where to live. I believe companies like 3V Infrastructure represent the practical, market-driven solutions we need to accelerate transportation electrification. What are your thoughts on EV charging for multifamily housing? Have you seen innovative approaches in your community? #CleanEnergy #EVCharging #Sustainability #RealEstate #CleanPowerHour https://lnkd.in/gUegKAF5

Here is one thing that many charging companies miss when choosing a charging site: They check for nearby charging but don’t consider the reliability of those stations!!   Think about it. A poorly-rated, unreliable charging station isn't true competition. It's a market failure waiting to be corrected. It's a clear sign of unmet demand among EV drivers. Our Filters feature makes it easy for companies to look at the reliability of nearby stations. We have a 5-star rating system based on real reviews. Companies can easily filter by stations based on their review score. Our review data is constantly updated that way companies see the latest ratings as stations improve or decline over time. Do you look up the reliability of existing charging stations when doing a competitive analysis?

This week's Department for Transport (DfT), United Kingdom announcement on depot charging funding is welcome. As our future of fleets report identified, the cost of investing in zero-emission Vans, HGVs and Coaches presents significant challenges for many operators. We believe this process needs to be both affordable and have realistic timelines. This scheme is a good starting point and will help operators invest in depot charge-points. However, much more support will be required on the road to Net Zero.   We're excited to bring an electric van into our own fleet in the coming weeks to support our Truck Simulator's journey across the country, visiting colleges, members, and key stakeholders to promote our industry and safe driving practices. This first-hand experience will provide valuable insights into EV van operational realities. More soon.   My recent drive across Wales in an electric car previewed those realities and also starkly illustrated infrastructure gaps. Our Future of Fleets report highlighted this, citing unreliable charging infrastructure in certain parts of the country. There's limited provision in parts of Wales, and north of Scotland's central belt. In Northern Ireland, the road network has relatively few charging points suitable for commercial vehicles. In England, it varies by region. As Chris Haslam recently wrote in the Times, "massive inadequacies" remain across the UK roadside charging network.   Many commercial vehicles, including ours, undertake longer journeys requiring overnight stays far away from base. If businesses are to buy into this process, they need the confidence to invest in vehicles, which means adequate charging facilities must be available.   Where charging points do exist, they're often unsuitable for vans, which are 50% longer and 13% wider than cars. Spaces can be too tight and difficult to manoeuvre vans in and out of. In some places, this forces vans to occupy two spaces, hardly popular with car owners and charge point operators. Add the confusion of multiple different charging apps, and it's clear that we need a simpler, more unified system.   As the decarbonisation journey continues, it's important to acknowledge positive steps already taken, such as the depot funding, and the ZEHID programme. Away from electric, we’re committed to continuing to explore alternative technologies, intermediate fuels, hydrogen, and new engine systems.   This journey isn’t just about vehicles, it's about creating an affordable, safe and reliable environment that supports their practical use. We must be realistic though. Until infrastructure challenges and cost barriers are adequately addressed, the shift towards zero-emission commercial transport will be much slower for many businesses.   That means Government support needs to match the urgency of decarbonisation targets.   As ever, I welcome your thoughts.

The question of accessible EV charging goes far deeper than technical specifications. Having observed numerous charging hub installations across the UK, I find myself reflecting on the organisational dynamics that influence accessibility outcomes. Recently, I watched someone using crutches struggle to reach a charger positioned on a kerb. It was difficult and potentially dangerous for her; making it virtually impossible for wheelchair users. Add in tyre stops that create additional barriers and bays that are too narrow for wheelchair users or parents with pushchairs, and we see a concerning pattern in charging infrastructure design. This raises crucial questions: Are landowners concerned about losing valuable parking spaces? Are business development teams equipped with the evidence to make compelling cases for truly accessible installations? Finding the root causes of these design decisions is essential for creating meaningful change. Genuine accessibility isn't just about meeting minimum standards. It requires: ⚡ Understanding user needs through direct engagement with drivers who have disabilities ⚡ Installing chargers with lower display interfaces ⚡ Implementing advanced cable management systems for easier handling ⚡ Creating wider bays with level access and without obstacles ⚡ Designing intuitive payment systems and clear signage ⚡ Ensuring ample space for wheelchair users and pushchairs What's becoming increasingly clear is that these improvements benefit all users, not just those with specific accessibility needs. Business teams need robust evidence to demonstrate this to land owners, showing how inclusive design can create better charging experiences for everyone. The future of EV charging must be inclusive by design, not as an afterthought. Making these changes requires challenging conversations early in the planning process and a commitment to doing things differently.

A Service Level Agreement (SLA) for Solar Operations and Maintenance (O&M) outlines the expectations, responsibilities, and metrics between the service provider and the client. It ensures the solar system operates at optimal performance and meets energy production targets. Here are the typical components of an SLA for Solar O&M: 1. Scope of Services Regular maintenance: Cleaning, inspections, and minor repairs. Monitoring system performance. Troubleshooting and rectifying faults. Warranty management. Reporting and documentation. 2. Performance Metrics Energy Performance Ratio (PR): Guarantees the system will achieve a minimum PR (e.g., 80%-90%). System Availability: Ensures the system operates for a specific percentage of time (e.g., 98%-99% annually). Response Time: Defines the time taken to respond to incidents (e.g., 24-48 hours). Resolution Time: Specifies the time required to resolve issues (e.g., 5 business days). 3. Maintenance Schedules Frequency of preventive maintenance (e.g., monthly, quarterly). Specific activities like panel cleaning, inverter inspections, and thermal imaging. 4. Monitoring and Reporting 24/7 remote monitoring. Monthly/quarterly performance reports. Incident reports detailing faults, resolutions, and preventive measures. 5. Corrective Actions Immediate action for critical faults (e.g., inverter failure). Standard procedure for minor repairs. Replacement of defective parts within agreed timelines. 6. Exclusions Damage due to natural disasters or force majeure. Upgrades or major system overhauls. Repairs outside the agreed warranty terms. 7. Penalties and Incentives Penalties for failing to meet PR or availability targets. Incentives for exceeding energy production goals. 8. Roles and Responsibilities Provider: Maintenance, monitoring, and fault resolution. Client: Providing site access, ensuring cleanliness, and reporting any visible issues. 9. Term and Termination Duration of the SLA (e.g., 5 years, renewable). Termination clauses for non-performance or breach of contract. 10. Dispute Resolution Mechanisms for resolving disputes, such as arbitration or mediation. For detailed template please let me know