European gas prices have climbed back to levels not seen since the peak of the 2022 energy crisis, as the conflict with Iran keeps fossil fuel markets on edge. With winter approaching and storage levels below seasonal norms, households across the continent are bracing for another stretch of high energy bills.
In June, the European Commission advised citizens to cut consumption during peak hours to ease pressure on a grid that is already struggling to keep pace with demand. The rapid expansion of energy-hungry data centres, driven by the artificial intelligence boom, has only added to the strain.
But according to Niklas Persson, CEO of grid integration at Hitachi Energy, ordinary Europeans are not powerless. “Consumers are becoming increasingly important participants in the energy ecosystem,” he told European Pulse. “A ‘better grid citizen’ is not simply someone who uses less electricity. It is someone who uses electricity more intelligently.”
Small changes, meaningful impact
Smart EV charging, flexible heating systems, and rooftop or plug-in solar panels can all reduce stress on the grid during peak periods while trimming household bills. However, the upfront cost of such technology can run into thousands of euros, putting it out of reach for many.
Yet there is a cheaper entry point: smart meters. These devices allow households to shift consumption to times when electricity is cheaper, often through demand-response programmes offered by utilities. Adoption varies widely across Europe. In Denmark and Sweden, uptake is high, while in Germany only 5.9% of electricity connections have a smart meter—a rise of just 1.5 percentage points in six months, partly due to a long-running political debate over the devices.
Households with solar panels and battery storage can go a step further, selling surplus renewable energy back to the grid during evening peaks, when demand typically spikes as people return home. This not only lowers their own bills but also helps integrate more clean power into the system.
Persson envisions a future where millions of Europeans actively help balance supply and demand. “This could not only tighten the purse strings for cash-strapped Europeans but also prevent clean energy from being wasted,” he said.
According to the energy think tank Ember, smart charging of electric vehicles alone could absorb about 3% of peak hourly wind and solar generation in Spain. That would be significant, given that in May 2026 an estimated 10% of monthly power from Spanish wind and solar farms was curtailed due to grid bottlenecks.
Infrastructure is the bottleneck
But individual action only goes so far. “Individuals can only play that role if the right infrastructure is in place,” Persson stressed. “Governments, utilities and technology providers must work together to create simple incentives and user-friendly solutions that make flexibility easy and rewarding.”
Europe’s grid, originally built around coal and later gas, is in dire need of investment. An Ember report from April this year found that grid bottlenecks are putting more than 120 GW of anticipated renewable capacity at risk—enough to power roughly 105 million average European households for a year.
Persson argues that the transition to a sustainable, affordable and secure energy system cannot be achieved by utilities alone. It will require a partnership between grid operators, technology providers, businesses and consumers. “The good news is that the technology already exists and the relevant solutions are being deployed,” he said. “We need to upgrade existing transmission corridors, accelerate permitting for new grid projects, more widely deploy advanced power electronics and digital technologies, and strengthen connections between countries to allow power to flow where it is needed most.”
As economies electrify, the grid’s importance grows. Türkiye, which will co-host the UN climate summit COP31 in November, has made electrification a priority, aiming to raise the global share of electricity in final energy demand to 35% by 2035, up from around 20%. However, experts warn that counting expanded gas-fired generation toward such targets could undermine climate goals.
Persson acknowledges that electrification is a powerful tool for decarbonisation, but “not all electrification delivers the same climate benefit.” To maximise emissions reductions, increased electricity demand must be matched with clean generation and the grid infrastructure to connect it. “If governments want electrification to deliver its full environmental and economic value, they must accelerate investment in grid infrastructure with the same urgency as investment in power generation,” he added.
He believes the grid should be treated as critical national infrastructure, on par with highways, railways and airports. Without sufficient investment in transmission and distribution networks, integrating clean energy becomes far harder—and the goal of a resilient, low-carbon European energy system remains out of reach.
