The Energy Trilemma – what it is, and why it matters

nigel@reenergisegroup.com (Nigel Aylwin-Foster) — Wed, 11 Mar 2026 09:08:17 GMT

Schools need the right energy in the right place at the right time. That’s the goal: it’s not only essential for the provision of education, it’s fundamental for providing a safe and comfortable environment.

Easy to say, but meeting this requirement is becoming a marked challenge:

Energy is much more expensive than 5 years ago, but budget pressures require continuous cost reduction, now more than ever.
The energy market remains volatile, complex and opaque: it’s not getting any easier for consumers to see into it.
Climate change requires action: the removal of fossil fuels. This implies significant change to the energy infrastructure, sooner or later. Implicit in this is that nothing done now should jeopardise the path to net-zero.

It’s not enough to do what’s right: it’s as important to avoid doing what’s wrong. But it’s not easy:

A decision taken to reduce cost now may affect resilience or store up even greater cost in years to come.
A carbon-driven project may increase operational risk.
A reactive plant replacement can unwittingly close off future options.

So, how do schools navigate these three competing pressures:

Control energy costs.
Reduce carbon emissions responsibly, affordably, and efficiently.
Maintain reliable, resilient infrastructure and supply.

We call this The Energy Trilemma. The challenge is not choosing between cost, carbon, or resilience: it is managing them together.

ReEnergise Group blog

The Energy Trilemma – what it is, and why it matters