Your Energy Customers are Your Users Now

I’ve spent my career building and leading product teams at startups in fintech and real estate, design agencies like Huge, and big companies like Instagram. I’ve been privileged to work with some of the best UX designers in the world. I’ve never seen a design challenge as interesting as the one facing energy right now.

The energy sector is undergoing a wholesale redefinition. An industry that once served passive consumers now serves an active, engaged user base — one with rapidly rising expectations.

Energy companies that understand this shifting dynamic and alter their business and technology strategy to exploit it will unlock boundless opportunities. We founded Texture to help engender more companies like that.

The energy system is changing, but so are the roles of everyone in it.

Three quiet revolutions are reshaping the industry:

1. The expansion of consumer choice

Energy consumers are no longer passive participants in a centralized hub and spoke system. In just the last several years they have become empowered market participants who can choose from a dizzying array of energy products and services:

1. Energy devices like EVs, batteries, or solar
2. Programs like demand response, incentive schemes, and time of use rates
3. Retail energy and community solar plans
4. Novel financing schemes like battery leases or energy efficiency services

This is a profound shift. Energy consumers used to flip a switch and forget about it. Today they have significant agency, and with that comes both new business opportunities but also a dramatic increase in competition for their attention and their purchasing power.

2. The digital transformation is at least as big as the hardware transformation

Much ink has been spilled about the dramatically shifting mix of hardware that comprises the energy system. comprises the energy system. From the deployment of DERs and smart meters to commercial EV charger networks and building automation, the change to our physical world is undisputed. What gets way less attention is that this deployment is also installing hundreds of millions of computers, capturing bi-directional flows of data in near real-time that used to live in monthly meter readings. We will soon have a level of data fidelity and volume in energy not seen in either e-commerce or finance. With that will come opportunities for companies to provide much more reliable, tailored, and imaginative products.

3. Choice + data will mean much higher expectations

Users of non-energy services know that it’s extremely easy for companies to track nearly everything they do when interacting with that company. This has of course created all kinds of important debates about surveillance and user privacy. But it has also dramatically increased user expectations that with great data comes great responsibility. When I install Uber or Lyft, I consent to let those companies track my location in real-time. Imagine if I hailed a car and the driver texted me to say that yes, they have my location, but it’s sent to a data warehouse somewhere and he doesn’t have access to it so he wanted me to help him navigate. I’d probably uninstall the app immediately.

This is sort of where we find ourselves right now in energy — most companies now have a lot of data but have not yet built the tools or teams to leverage it. Consumer patience for a battery that malfunctions, or a charging station that’s not actually free, or a demand response program that controlled their thermostat without any transparency is going to be fleeting. And impatient users simply navigate elsewhere.

The legacy of insular design

The construction of the modern energy grid was a monumental feat that has delivered on its core mandate for over a hundred years, but it was not designed to serve tens of millions of active participants who not only consume but often produce and store energy, all in real-time. And while the grid is evolving, the tools we’ve built around it are still optimizing a legacy linear supply chain.

1. Bridging priorities

Energy companies, device OEMs, and software providers have historically focused on technical functionality — ensuring systems work and data flows. Now, there’s an opportunity to expand that focus to include the user journey. By prioritizing intuitive and anticipatory design, companies can better support homeowners considering new technologies, installers streamlining their workflows, and utilities enhancing engagement with their customers.

2. The smart home’s broken promise

For years, companies chased the vision of a single-brand smart home — where consumers would build networks of branded devices that talk to each other seamlessly. It didn’t work. Consumers didn’t want brand loyalty — they wanted the best devices for their needs. The result? Half-smart homes filled with products that don’t communicate or coordinate with each other, much less beyond the home. Now, as the grid shifts toward interoperability and networked systems, this legacy of fragmentation is holding us back. The tools we need demand seamless coordination and cross-platform standards, not brand conformity. Consumers rejected all-in-one ecosystems for smart homes, and now energy providers face a similar challenge. Most homeowners won’t buy every device — battery, EV, HVAC — from a single company. Companies must compete as part of a larger, interoperable ecosystem.

3. Complexity that overwhelms

For the average homeowner, managing energy choices is like learning a foreign language. Poorly designed dashboards, confusing jargon, and decision fatigue make it harder — not easier — to participate. And the problem isn’t limited to consumers. Installers, utilities, and program operators face disconnected systems that update in intervals best measured with a calendar, leading to increased costs and lower returns. Moreover, consumers tend to distrust what they can’t understand, and distrust leads to churn and sometimes calls for oversight and regulation.

Why fixing UX matters — the ROI of good design

Investing in user experience isn’t just good for customers — it’s good for business.

• For utilities and regulators: Better-designed tools drive program adoption, improve visibility, and deliver grid outcomes.
• For installers, OEMs, and REPs: Seamless workflows and clearer interfaces boost customer conversion, retention, and operational efficiency.
• For the grid: A better experience for everyone leads to lower costs, smarter coordination, and stronger system-wide performance.

But beyond the metrics, great UX builds trust. It creates emotional connections. It differentiates companies in a competitive market. And there are plenty of precedents. Just twenty years ago, healthcare was a highly opaque and analog industry, but even there we’ve digitized medical records and found secure strategies for communication. This has created a revolution in everything from concierge medicine to direct to consumer pharmaceuticals and telehealth counseling services. Progress is possible with the right strategy and investments.

What “user first” could look like

Imagine a future where energy tools work seamlessly for every participant:

• For homeowners: A single, intuitive app to manage their energy — batteries, EVs, and solar — showing savings, grid contributions, and resilience at a glance. Or better yet, many competing options to choose from, with the underlying ecosystem of innovative business models, standards, and partnerships to support them.
• For installers and OEMs: Tools that streamline workflows, reduce errors, and deliver actionable insights to power predictive maintenance and real-time customer service.
• For utilities and enterprises: Interconnected platforms that use shared data to coordinate actions in real time — delivering value to users and resiliency to the grid.
• For program operators and regulators: Seamless digital systems that align consumers, stakeholders, and programs to deliver predictable and effective load shifting and incentive outcomes.

Delivering a delightful user experience isn’t just about making your app more intuitive — though that’s not a bad first start. It’s about thinking through the entire user journey, both digital and physical, and deploying a full suite of technologies to address user needs and increase lifetime value.

How Texture powers better user experiences

At Texture, we believe the energy sector’s transformation requires more than just great tools — it demands a foundation that unites every participant in the system. That’s why Texture is the only cloud platform purpose-built to meet the energy sector’s unique needs in this digital age.

Our platform:

• Connects everyone to a single source of energy truth: Texture puts your meter, device, and customer data all in one place. It can simultaneously power your consumer applications, sales, and operations teams in real-time. And you can integrate it into the tools your teams already use — there’s no need to jettison your warehouse or CRM.
• We invest in our users so you can invest in yours: We’ve built powerful analytics and reporting, geospatial analysis tools, real-time device control, and anomaly detection all wrapped in a mobile-friendly dashboard fit for end users but made for our enterprise customers so you can focus on using your data to make decisions rather than struggling to understand it.
• Data controls and security are at our core: We built Texture to anticipate the need for companies to securely share data with each other and for them to feel empowered amid an ever-growing demand for higher security and consumer privacy standards. Our team is comprised of veterans of finance, e-commerce, and social media and we are here to future-proof your data infrastructure.

The energy sector has a rare opportunity to lead the next wave of digital transformation — one that prioritizes users, trust, and system-wide performance. Texture provides the tools to get there.

The path forward

The grid is transforming. Energy consumers are ready. The systems are connected. But without user-first design, we risk losing the momentum.

• Decision-makers must treat UX as a strategic investment — not a nice-to-have.
• Companies that adopt a holistic approach to design will unlock adoption, engagement, and trust at scale.
• The grid of the future will rely on empowered, active participants — and experiences that work for everyone.

As users step into this expanded role, they need tools — apps, platforms, and interfaces — that rise to meet their expectations. While many systems are still catching up to this new reality, this challenge is also a chance to build innovative, seamless experiences that empower consumers, strengthen the grid, and advance the energy sector’s ambitious transformation.

The future grid will be built around users. Companies that rise to this challenge will lead the next wave of energy innovation. Let’s build experiences users love — and a future they trust.

Nicholas Brown (nicholas@texturehq.com)

Ready to experience a platform with user experience at its core? Contact our team today and discover how Texture’s commitment to user experience can transform your energy business.