The UK is a laboratory for smart grid; centralized regulatory authority has compelled the addition of smart meters and expensive power prices have encouraged customers to participate in demand response programs. US companies are closely watching developments there, and in some cases importing technology.

But the UK’s energy sector “continues to face a widening spectrum of challenges; we have seen ambitious political plans tempered by Treasury decisions, and as time marches on, the existing approach to Smart is being challenged by innovative and cheaper emerging technologies.

“Despite progress in some areas, the industry continues to wait for clear policy decisions in many others,” the organizers of Delivering the New Energy Economy say. The keynote speaker at the event will be the UK Minister of State for Energy Charles Hendry.

For more on the event, and registration, visit the conference website here.