News

ELECTRICITY planning used to be relatively straight forward: keep the generators running, maintain the network, import enough fuel and ensure the lights stay on.

Today, it is far more complex. Energy now sits at the centre of wider questions about resilience, affordability, cli mate change, economic sustainability and the kind of Island we want Alderney to be over the coming decades.

Decisions about electricity are no longer just engineering decisions; they are increasingly community decisions. At Alderney Electricity, we are thinking strategically about the future. Not just about power generation and cables, but about how the Island itself may evolve and what infra structure will be needed to support it.

 Johnson and Scholes defined strategy as “the direction and scope of an organisation over the long term, to achieve advantage through the configuration of resources, and meet stake holder expectations, within a changing environment.” Put simply, strategy is about understanding where you are, deciding where you want to go, and matching ambition with practical realities and finite resources.

Our responsibility is not simply to keep the lights on today, but to ensure that the systems we invest in today are affordable and robust enough to support the Alderney of the future. To help inform that work, we use the States of Alderney Island Plan and Energy Policies as important reference points. These set out aspirations around resilience, sustainability, prosperity, energy security and reducing reliance on fossil fuels - but they are only part of the picture. We also study wider trends in energy transition, electrification and resilience.

Around the world, small islands face many of the same challenges as Alderney: reducing dependence on imported fuels, integrating renewable generation, improving resilience, managing supply chains, and maintaining affordability. We are learning from those experiences while recognising that Alderney must develop solutions that are suitable for Alderney. Good strategy is not about chasing fashionable ideas or forcing change for its own sake. It begins by understanding what you value and wish to preserve.

That was the theme of a recent discussion I facilitated as part of the Enterprise and Tech Hub’s 'Brew & Build' series at the Blonde Hedgehog. Rather than focusing on decline, negativity or what we oppose, we explored more constructive questions: What do we wish Alderney to become? What do we value about this island? What do we wish to protect? What kind of community, economy and way of life do we want future generations to inherit?

These questions matter because energy systems and infrastructure do not exist in dependently from society. They underpin homes, businesses, transport, food, water, communications and quality of life. If we can better understand the future Alderney wants, we can better design an energy system capable of supporting it. In many ways, strategy is thoughtful preparation for tomorrow, grounded in today's realities. As Alderney continues to shape its future, these conversations will help ensure that the decisions we make today remain relevant, resilient and beneficial for future generations.

Alderney Journal - 12 June 2026