Energy, EU – Baltic States, Forum, Lithuania

"At the moment, we see cheap US gas making way to all around the world, we see cheap coal, cheap renewables. Wholesale energy prices are dropping around the world but ordinary people don't see that, they only see that prices on their bills are not dropping. Then they start to think that energy sector is working on high margins, they must earn a lot of profit but in reality it's not like that because all the money they earn are invested into system digitization, into smart technologies," Michael Liebreich, chairman of the Advisory Board at Bloomberg New Energy Finance, said at the annual conference of the Eurelectric association of the electricity industry in Europe.

In his words, players of the sector should come as close as possible to their clients in the current situation.

"The only safe strategy is to get as close as possible to the customers who don't see the drop of energy prices. All around the world there are battles fought for the customers to try to understand them better and to meet their needs," Liebreich said in the Lithuanian capital.

Dalius Misiunas, CEO of the energy holding Lietuvos Energija (Lithuanian Energy), emphasized that digitization had an effect upon the whole energy sector.

"Digital changes have an impact upon the entire supply chain from production to consumers. Digital transformation of the market will boost competition, as it has become easier for new smaller players to come to the market. Some participants may find the competition unhandy, however, this will guarantee more added value for customers," Misiunas said at the event.

In his words, participants of the energy sector should reconsider their models of operations to ensure that changes in the sector take place at a faster pace than the changes in the world, the people and technologies.