The UK risks becoming trapped in a cycle of high electricity prices, weaker industrial demand and rising infrastructure costs unless it finds ways to increase power consumption, Energy Institute President Andy Brown has warned.

Speaking to Energy Industries Council (EIC) CEO Stuart Broadley on the EIC Clearly podcast, Brown said UK electricity demand rose 1.8 per cent in 2025 but remains 27 per cent below its level 20 years ago. By contrast, global electricity demand has roughly doubled over the same period.

“We have this risk of a death spiral with high cost of electricity, an economy that has deindustrialised,”Brown said.

He argued that declining industrial demand means the costs of maintaining and expanding the electricity grid are spread across a smaller customer base, increasing pressure on prices.

Reversing that trend would help create economies of scale and make the power system more affordable.

“The way to get electricity cheap is to have more demand,” he said.

Brown said additional demand should come from industry as well as electric vehicles, heat pumps and data centres.

He highlighted the contrast with China, which he said generates six times more electricity for every $1tn of economic output than the UK.

His comments come as the Energy Institute published the 75th edition of its Statistical Review of World Energy.

The report found global energy demand increased 1.7 per cent in 2025, with every major energy source reaching a record high.

CO2-equivalent emissions also rose to a record 41 gigatonnes.

Renewables accounted for all growth in global electricity demand for the first time outside periods of major crisis, according to Brown.

Solar generation increased 30 per cent and wind generation 8 per cent, while China accounted for 55 per cent of the increase in global electricity demand and expanded solar output by 40 per cent.

Brown, a former Shell upstream director and vice chair of Ørsted, also called for greater use of UK-produced gas that has already been developed, rather than increasing dependence on imported liquefied natural gas.

He said the UK needs a coordinated approach to lower electricity costs, stimulate demand and expand the grid alongside new generation capacity if it is to restore industrial competitiveness.

The discussion was featured on EIC Clearly, the Energy Industries Council’s podcast covering energy, policy and developments shaping the global energy supply chain. -OGN/TradeArabia News Service