Centrica CEO Sees Company Going Head-To-Head With Google, Amazon

Centrica is going head-to-head with the likes of Google, Amazon and Samsung in competing in new value chains and business models for customer-facing energy services, Iain Conn, CEO of Centrica, said at IHS Energy CERAWeek

Conn described, "a new competitive landscape with new value chains, business models and competitors."

"We face new challengers in terms of technology, energy supply and generation, energy management and - of course - access to customers. Google has launched a WiFi router which could double as a smart home hub. Amazon has stepped up its efforts in the Connected Home market, partnering with appliance makers, including GE and Samsung," Conn noted

"So at Centrica, we are going head-to-head with the likes of Google, Amazon and Samsung. We are deploying connected home devices, already providing data analytics on energy use to 3 million customers, and developing innovations such as the 'connected boiler' which can tell you in advance that it is going to break down," Conn said

Conn spoke of a, "fundamental shift in where energy is generated and managed."

"This arises from more viable technologies, increased choice and many types of solutions for energy management at point of use. It will give communities, businesses and individuals more control over their energy. And it will remove the locational separation between generation and consumption," Conn said

"[G]etting from today’s energy market to the energy market of the future will involve huge complexity in the transition. The system will be turned on its head and we will see the customer become the price setter rather than the price taker," Conn said

"One important question is whether distributed energy will increase to the point where it will challenge the economics of the central grid and generating system," Conn said