10 Policy Principles to Seize the Electric Advantage

The policy brief proposes ten strategic principles for governments to unlock business investment in clean electrification. These include setting clear targets, reforming financial incentives to remove fossil fuel subsidies, modernizing electricity grids, and streamlining permitting processes. The document emphasizes that coordinated international signals and integrated industrial strategies are necessary to reduce policy uncertainty and overcome barriers such as high upfront costs and skilled labor shortages, aiming for electricity to account for approximately 35% of global final energy use by 2035.

• Governments should use international forums like the G7, G20, BRICS, and the UNFCCC to establish clean electrification as a shared strategic priority, which helps reduce policy uncertainty for businesses across different jurisdictions.
• There is a feasible scenario, supported by IEA and IRENA, where electricity accounts for approximately 35% of global final energy use by 2035 if the correct policies are implemented.
• To make electrified solutions more affordable, governments need to realign financial incentives by reforming taxes and levies that favor fossil fuels and phasing out fossil fuel subsidies.
• Electricity markets must be designed to reward flexibility on both the supply and demand sides, enabling aggregators and active consumers—such as industrial loads and EV charging—to maintain system reliability.
• Public investment is required to expand transmission and distribution grids and build shared infrastructure, such as charging networks for heavy-duty vehicles and industrial heat networks, to prevent grid capacity from becoming a barrier to business electrification.
• Permitting and grid connection processes should be streamlined through the use of statutory timelines, digitalized application systems, and one-stop-shop approval entities to reduce project costs and development risks.
• Public financial mechanisms, including blended finance, guarantees, and concessional loans, are necessary to lower the cost of capital and improve the bankability of electrification projects, particularly in emerging markets.
• Governments should integrate electrification into industrial strategies by supporting the domestic manufacturing of technologies like batteries, heat pumps, and wind turbines, and by using trade agreements and public procurement to expand markets.

APA

We Mean Business Coalition (2026). 10 Policy Principles to Seize the Electric Advantage. https://www.wemeanbusinesscoalition.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/WMBC-2026-10-Policy-Principles-to-Seize-the-Electric-Advantage.pdf

Chicago

We Mean Business Coalition. 10 Policy Principles to Seize the Electric Advantage. 2026. https://www.wemeanbusinesscoalition.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/WMBC-2026-10-Policy-Principles-to-Seize-the-Electric-Advantage.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=We Mean Business Coalition |title=10 Policy Principles to Seize the Electric Advantage |date=June 2026 |url=https://www.wemeanbusinesscoalition.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/WMBC-2026-10-Policy-Principles-to-Seize-the-Electric-Advantage.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{wemeanbusinesscoalition2026policy, author = {{We Mean Business Coalition}}, title = {{10 Policy Principles to Seize the Electric Advantage}}, institution = {We Mean Business Coalition}, year = {2026}, month = jun, url = {https://www.wemeanbusinesscoalition.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/WMBC-2026-10-Policy-Principles-to-Seize-the-Electric-Advantage.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }