Why Energy Strategy Can’t Wait

Updated: March 1, 2026

From April 2026, businesses across the UK will feel the impact of sharply higher energy network charges. Final Transmission Network Use of System (TNUoS) rates published by the National Energy System Operator confirm what many of us in the industry expected  increases of more than 60% year on year.

And while this aligns with projections, the reality for UK businesses is simple energy costs are changing again… and this time, it’s structural.

This Isn’t About Wholesale Prices

For years, businesses have focused on commodity rates, watching wholesale markets rise and fall, fixing contracts at the right time, managing risk around supply volatility.

But this next wave of cost pressure isn’t driven by gas prices or global events.

It’s network investment.

The UK’s Clean Power 2030 ambition requires unprecedented levels of transmission infrastructure to connect renewable generation, reinforce ageing grid assets and decarbonise the power system. That investment has to be funded and it is increasingly being recovered through network charges like TNUoS.

Gas networks are following a similar trajectory under the RIIO-3 regulatory framework.

Non-commodity costs are no longer a secondary line item. For many businesses, they’re becoming the dominant cost pressure.

The Real Risk: Passive Energy Procurement

The businesses most exposed over the next two years won’t necessarily be the highest users of energy.

They’ll be the ones without a strategy.

TNUoS charges are capacity-driven. They interact with demand profiles, KVA banding, peak usage behaviour and contract structure. Two businesses using the same amount of electricity could see materially different cost impacts depending on how their supply is structured.

Energy is no longer just something you buy.

It’s something you design.

What Smart Businesses Are Doing Now

Forward-thinking organisations are already:

  • Reviewing their KVA and capacity requirements
  • Stress-testing contracts against rising non-commodity costs
  • Assessing on-site generation and demand management
  • Understanding exposure to fixed vs pass-through structures
  • Modelling 2026–2028 cost scenarios now — not next year

The transition to a lower-carbon grid is necessary. It’s positive. But it is not cost-neutral.

There is no getting away from the fact that the infrastructure required to decarbonise Britain will have a material financial impact on businesses. The question is whether that impact is managed or absorbed.

This Is a Strategic Moment

We are entering a phase where energy procurement is becoming a board-level discussion again — not because of crisis volatility, but because of structural reform.

Businesses that treat this as “just another increase” will feel it.

Those that treat it as a catalyst to rethink their energy strategy will control it.

At GEAB, we’re already working with organisations to model these changes, redesign supply structures and ensure compliance while protecting margin.

The 60% rise isn’t the headline.

The headline is this: non-commodity costs are now the story  and strategy matters more than ever.