James Summerbell, senior buying manager for Tesco, spoke to delegates at the SmartestEnergy annual conference this week, outlining the issues affecting energy markets from the supermarket giant's perspective. He said that the company's combined gas and electricity consumption accounts for over 60% of its carbon footprint in the UK. The concerns are predictable rising costs, price volatility and emissions.

"There's been a bit of an illusion in the market because prices have come down, primarily due to the recession, and while the price of oil has been hovering around a relatively-low $80 per barrel in recent weeks, "The reality is that prices are not going to go down any further," stated Mr Summerbell.

He said the company sets itself targets and looks for innovative ways to cut its energy supply while using self-generation where possible through biomass or turbines, and would stand behind alternative technologies by investing its own money in it. The company’s concerns go beyond sourcing cheap, reliable and sustainable power; they are concerned about not only their own energy costs, but also those of their supply chain.

"Our customers own energy costs go up so that's money they're spending on energy that they can't then spend on the high street or elsewhere. That's probably a bigger impact on our business in the long run than the direct impact on our electricity bill." Mr Summerbell stated further.

He warned against getting weighed down by the challenges, however, arguing that these changes brought opportunities in areas such as Feed-In Tariffs and Renewable Obligation Certificates that allowed them to diversify their energy supply.