Power outages affect the work of 76% of companies: how business prepares for the winter of 2024-2025

According to the results of a survey conducted by the American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine and the Deloitte company, 76% of Ukrainian companies note the negative impact of prolonged power outages on their activities. Although 88% of businesses said they are prepared for such challenges, 94% of them already have or are developing an action plan in case of energy crises.

The survey, titled "Business Resilience: How Companies Are Preparing for Winter 2024-2025," which was conducted from July 22 to August 22, 2024, involved 139 CEOs and top managers of member companies of the American Chamber of Commerce. The purpose of the study was to study business approaches to overcoming the consequences of power outages and to determine the necessary support measures on the threshold of the new winter period.

According to the results of the survey, 37% of companies are able to provide autonomous power supply for a period of more than 24 hours in the absence of centralized power, which indicates a high level of preparedness for possible blackouts. The most common solution for ensuring operation during outages is generators, which are used by 86% of companies. At the same time, 40% of respondents additionally use alternative energy sources, such as solar panels and gas installations, which demonstrates the diversification of approaches to energy sustainability.

The main challenge for business, according to 62% of respondents, is significant financial costs for the purchase of fuel and generators. In addition, 73% of survey participants cited high costs for backup equipment, and 58% cited a lack of alternative energy sources, making it difficult to ensure business continuity during extended outages.

Prolonged blackouts have the greatest impact on sales (35%), production processes (32%) and information technology (27%). However, only 22% of companies were forced to adapt their operational and production processes by outsourcing or moving activities abroad.

Among the possible ways to support business, 69% of respondents consider financial programs for installing backup power sources to be important. Entrepreneurs also noted the urgency of regulatory changes to facilitate the implementation of energy projects (53%) and tax benefit programs (46%), which would help ensure business sustainability in the face of energy challenges.