Mitochondria, our cellular power stations have the unenviable task of producing most of our body’s ATP. Kidneys are fuel hungry organs second only to the heart in mitochondrial number and oxygen consumption. The fuels of choice for the majority of the kidney cortex are lactate, free fatty acids and glutamine rather than glucose, which is consistent with many other sites dependent on high rates of energy production such as neurones. There is increasing evidence that there is mitochondrial dysfunction at sites of diabetes complications including the kidney and that this contributes to disease development. It is therefore likely that mitochondrial dysfunction alters fuel choice by the kidney leading to changes in oxygen consumption and energy generation. This talk will highlight why mitochondrial function is intricately linked to kidney function and how this could be targeted to prevent the development of diabetic kidney disease.