The Great British Energy Bill: think slow, act fast

The Great British Energy Bill will be debated by MPs for the first time this week (5th Sept). Ministers have set out broad ambitions for the new organisation but the key to success will be ensuring GB Energy focuses only on what it can really achieve.

Right now, the government has ambitions which include generating returns within five years, investing in and directly owning energy assets, delivering local projects and boosting supply chains. It also wants to help bring technologies to market and be a key player in the government’s wider target of a net zero grid by 2030.

From my experience, the biggest danger for a new organisation lies in taking on too many challenges and not taking time to develop a credible plan.

Bent Flyvbjerg and Dan Gardner were right in How Big Things Get Done (one of my summer reads). The most successful organisations are those which think carefully about what they want to achieve and then act quickly to deliver their objectives. In four words: think slow, act fast. 

The book describes some great successes: the Empire State Building, a novel construction at the time, built exactly on time and 17% under budget. And many failures: including Boston’s Big Dig, California’s High Speed Rail and multiple IT projects. Obviously, these are one-off projects, not a programme, to which Great British Energy aspires. But that makes the point even more compelling. Greater complexity and interdependency makes poor outcomes more likely if there isn’t a clear, well-developed plan at the start. 

What does this mean for GB Energy?

·       Prioritise: GB Energy should concentrate on a few core objectives that will propel its mission forward. That should include getting 'close-to-market' technologies up and running – obvious candidates are SMRs, carbon capture and floating offshore wind

·       Streamline: GB Energy should focus only on initiatives which crowd in private investment and offer the greatest potential for impact

·       Strong Foundations: GB Energy needs clear processes in place which enable a culture of innovation and adaptation to changing market forces

·        Early wins: after developing a credible plan, it is important that GB Energy gets a few quick wins to establish credibility (i.e think slow, act fast)

This is the first blog of a series providing insights from our GE Vernova team, where my colleagues will also be sharing their perspectives on the future of the energy sector over the coming weeks. Watch out for the posts from Nomi Ahmad, Clar Collins, Anne-marie Coyle and Andy Champ. It would be great to hear your views on their thoughts.