According to the study, some 48% of power companies are now looking towards wind as an energy source, compared with only 17% a year ago, while 45% are looking at nuclear energy, up from 19% last year.

The ninth annual PricewaterhouseCoopers report goes to the heart of the boardroom thinking of 114 power companies in 44 countries and reveals a shift in the extent to which energy efficiency, renewable and nuclear power are affecting company agendas.

Although utility companies felt governments and end-users must set a lead on energy efficiency, the report showed they were ready to invest significantly to improve the efficiency of their own energy production and transmission, and were also keen to help their customers improve. Indeed, 72% of respondents who supply energy are already making some investment in demand-side efficiency measures.

The industry believes technological advances will be a boon, with 81% of American respondents expecting new technology to improve efficiency– compared to only 22% of respondents 12 months ago. While Europeans are less optimistic, 43% think technology will improve energy efficiency (up from 33% last year) compared with 62% of respondents globally (up from 41%).

But PricewaterhouseCoopers’ global utilities leaders, Manfred Wiegand, warned that while the sentiment is positive, actual progress may be limited without effective and consistent worldwide regulatory and market frameworks.

“It is clear that the climate of thinking and action around cleaner power, renewable and energy efficiency is shifting fast. The big question is the extent and pace of the actual shift that will take place in the energy mix,” he said.

“Economic signals and incentives will be critical for utility companies to be able to make a big shift. An effective signalling of carbon prices will need to exist across all regions, crucially covering high-emitting and high-growth countries such as the US, India and China.”