On the back of an urgent mandate to electrify and decarbonise the UK energy grid Yonder was asked how National Grid could accelerate the impact of the net zero transition for customers and society. This question comes at a time of profound transformation in the electrification of the UK energy system and also huge political and regulatory pressure.
Who is our customer today, who will they be tomorrow?
The customer was the starting point, quite literally.
Within a culture of engineering, the concept of customer wasn’t widely understood, who they were and what pulled them apart, who they were today and who they would be tomorrow. Together we realised that the basis of this work was not only for a customer strategy, but a customer led transformation.
Yonder’s Clockface tool provided a comprehensive understanding of today’s customer, leading edge customers and a network of global experts pointed to those shaping tomorrow’s energy system.
Spending time with front line staff identified the operational barriers and clues that could unlock the power of the whole organisation. The insights pointed to an immediate objective that had focused resource and attention away from the transition, a focus on cost of supply over cost of failure, and a focus on cost over value.
From bottleneck to orchestrator
The focus toward certainty and reliability of the grid, became a deliberate shift in emphasis from the politicisation of the net zero transition. This is what mattered most, for customers, investors, suppliers and UK plc today, providing air cover for what comes tomorrow – a shift in role to an orchestrator of the net zero transition.
Enabling this ambition meant revisiting NGED’s role and who they regarded as customers, those that were suppliers were now critical enablers of services to end users, competing operators were now key partners in driving regulatory reform which National Grid would lead.
The work now continues into its next chapter, shaping a regulatory framework and set of measures that enables National Grid and other DNOs to create a step change in value for those they serve, while accelerating the net zero transition.
Sector
Energy and utility
Geography
UK
What we did
Customer understanding
Political & social insight
Business strategy