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Open source software can create value for energy organizations beyond avoiding license fees—but whether it does depends on the project, operating context, and cost and risk assumptions. LF Energy and Linux Foundation Research’s The Open Source Value Proposition for the Energy Sector proposes assessing four dimensions together: cost, risk, strategic value, and societal value. Applying its framework through case studies and simulations, the organizations report 2–5x greater net value than existing procurement approaches or current operational costs. That is a result reported for the framework’s application, not a guaranteed return for a particular utility or a blanket verdict in favor of open source.
What the framework measures
A conventional software comparison can focus too narrowly on purchase price or license fees. An energy operator also has to account for implementation and ongoing operations, exposure to security or support problems, its ability to adapt software and integrate systems, and the value of work that may be shared across organizations.
The LF Energy Open Source Benefit-Cost Framework groups the assessment into four dimensions. It is a decision aid: operators select a baseline and alternatives that fit their own use case rather than assuming that one comparison applies to every grid or organization.
| Dimension | Questions to ask |
|---|---|
| Cost | What are the costs of acquiring, implementing, integrating, operating, supporting, and maintaining each option over the chosen period? |
| Risk | What could affect reliability, security, performance, support, or delivery—and how likely and consequential is each risk for this use case? |
| Strategic value | How well can the organization customize the software, integrate it with other systems, influence its direction, and manage supplier dependence? |
| Societal value | Could shared development, reusable work, or broader community capacity benefit other participants in the energy system? |
Interoperability, customization, community co-development, procurement leverage, and digital sovereignty are among the longer-term considerations highlighted in the report announcement. They can inform the assessment, but should be tied to concrete outcomes rather than treated as automatic benefits of an open source license.
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How to compare procurement choices
Utilities may be deciding among conventional proprietary procurement, adopting open source software without a major contribution commitment, and collaboratively developing or maintaining software with other participants. These are different operating models, not interchangeable labels. A useful comparison holds the problem, scope, and evaluation period as constant while making each option’s assumptions explicit.
| Option | What to examine |
|---|---|
| Conventional proprietary procurement | Contract and operating costs; vendor support and performance commitments; integration effort; customization limits; and dependence on the supplier’s roadmap. |
| Open source adoption | Implementation and integration costs; who provides and pays for support; how security issues are handled; the project’s release and maintenance practices; and the work needed to adapt it locally. |
| Collaborative open source development | All adoption considerations, plus the organization’s contribution of engineering time, participation in governance, coordination with other contributors, and the likelihood that shared work addresses a real common need. |
Do not count a software license fee as the whole cost of either path. Likewise, do not assign a monetary value to interoperability, avoided dependence, or reusable work without explaining the evidence and assumptions behind that estimate. Compare scenarios across the same scope and time horizon, and show which assumptions change the result. The report summary does not state its detailed time period, discount rate, sensitivity ranges, or itemized model inputs, so those should not be attributed to its analysis.
A practical way to build the assessment
- Define the decision. Specify the operational problem, the systems and teams affected, and the outcome the software must support. Keep the comparison narrow enough that each alternative addresses the same need.
- Set the baseline and alternatives. Record the current approach as the counterfactual, then choose realistic alternatives: for example, a proprietary procurement, open source adoption, or a shared-development approach. The right baseline varies by operator and use case.
- Choose a common scope and period. Include the same functions, interfaces, and organizational boundaries for every scenario. Select a period relevant to the decision and apply it consistently; do not present an assumed period as a published framework requirement.
- Inventory costs and responsibilities. Identify implementation, integration, operations, support, maintenance, and contribution work. Note who performs each task and who bears its cost. Distinguish known amounts from estimates.
- Assess risks and controls. Consider performance, security, support continuity, delivery, and integration. Record the evidence for each assessment and the practical response—such as testing, support arrangements, or a defined maintenance role—rather than treating risk as a single generic score.
- Identify strategic and societal outcomes. State what measurable or decision-relevant value could come from customization, interoperability, supplier leverage, shared development, or reusable capacity. Avoid counting the same benefit under multiple dimensions.
- Test the assumptions. Show how the result changes if implementation effort, support needs, or the value of collaboration differs from the central estimate. Label scenario results as modeled, observed, or stakeholder-reported so readers can tell what kind of evidence supports them.
- Revisit the decision as evidence changes. Compare projected outcomes with operational experience, and update assumptions when project maturity, support arrangements, integration requirements, or organizational commitments change.
What adoption evidence does—and does not—show
Linux Foundation Research’s 2023 Energy Transformation Readiness Study surveyed 441 energy stakeholders across North America, Europe, and Asia Pacific; its release reported a margin of error of ±4.7 percentage points at 95% confidence. It said 76% had a clear digitalization plan underway and 51% saw IT and operational technology (IT/OT) convergence underway. These figures describe surveyed stakeholders in 2023, not current market share or every utility’s position.
The 2023 study summary also reported that 64% of respondents used more open source than closed source, and that 43% saw industry consensus as key to increasing adoption. Respondents identified cost reduction and faster transition as perceived benefits, while performance, support, and security were barriers. Those are survey responses: they indicate stakeholder views, not a causal measurement of savings or proof that a particular deployment is secure, performant, or well supported.
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What operator examples can tell you
Alliander and RTE: collaboration on substation software
A 2022 Linux Foundation Research case study describes Dutch distribution system operator Alliander and French transmission system operator RTE adopting and contributing to LF Energy projects SEAPATH, CoMPAS, and OpenSTEF. Their work aimed to make substations more modular, interoperable, and scalable, including in response to less predictable renewable generation. The case study reports that collaborative development enabled software solutions to be developed up to ten times faster than proprietary development alone. Treat that as the case study’s finding for the operators and projects it describes, not as a general speed benchmark for energy software.
Canadian grid modernization: interoperability needs governance
Linux Foundation Research’s Canadian energy interoperability study draws on interviews with 17 grid modernization experts. It identifies communication, data sharing, privacy, and security as barriers to interoperability, and points to standards adoption and case studies as ways to address them. The practical implication is that open source code alone cannot settle questions about shared data, compatible interfaces, security responsibilities, or governance.
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Project examples are not universal recommendations
The Linux Foundation’s August 2024 interoperability infographic highlights SPEEDIER for distributed energy resource integration and EVerest as an interoperable EV charging foundation. These illustrate areas where open source projects may support integration; they do not establish that either project is suitable for every operator, system, or procurement decision.
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How to interpret the reported 2–5x result
The 2–5x figure is the central reported finding of LF Energy and Linux Foundation Research’s 2026 report: the organizations say that applying the benefit-cost framework through case studies and simulations found greater net value than existing procurement approaches or current operational costs. The figure is not a universal return-on-investment promise, nor evidence that any open source option outperforms any proprietary one. The report is titled The Open Source Value Proposition for the Energy Sector, by Sam Boysel of The Linux Foundation and Mital Kanabar of PowerProfs, with a foreword by LF Energy’s Alex Thornton; its DOI is 10.70828/TNUV5704.
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For a particular procurement, the useful question is not whether open source is cheaper in the abstract, but whether a transparent, like-for-like assessment shows an advantage for the organization’s own requirements—and whether the risks, support model, and collaboration commitments are acceptable.
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