Whether they’re ready for it or not, utilities are facing new competition: their own customers. The rise of the prosumer energy marketplace—one where energy customers can be both consumers and producers of energy—means more engaged utility customers and potentially significant changes for the utility industry. Utilities face the possibility of a reduced role in delivering energy if they don’t take action soon.

To help you better understand this prosumer revolution, Zpryme has created an update and outlook report, The Prosumer Energy Marketplace. Leveraging its first-hand knowledge of distributed energy efforts, along with its global utility industry work, Zpryme delivers detailed information about:

  • The building blocks of the prosumer energy marketplace
  • How prosumers are driving participation in this marketplace
  • The changing role of utilities
  • Forward-looking utility models
  • Activities of key players and solutions in this market

The report explores these changes on a global level.

Key Highlights

  • The greatest enabler of the prosumer energy marketplace is a smart device, most notably smartphones along with tablets.
  • While once only a niche of the energy marketplace, the rise of smaller, decentralized energy systems, especially those focused on delivering solar and other alternative energy resources, are growing rapidly and helping speed the decline of the traditional, vertically integrated utility model.
  • Whether in regulated, deregulated or monopoly ecosystems, policy sets the rule. Policymakers and power companies are experimenting with different responses to changes in the power sector, creating diverse new utility models and regulatory structures.
  • In terms of utility roles, a recent survey of North American utility executives found 95% of the respondents anticipate their utility’s regulatory model will change over the next 10 years—57% believe it will change significantly.

Regions and Countries

  • U.S.
  • Europe, including the U.K, Germany and Holland
  • Asia Pacific, including China and Japan
  • Australia
  • Middle East

Prosumer Building Blocks

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Figure 1, source: Zpryme

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