Welcome to the launch of Watt-Logic Training!

Today I am (finally) launching Watt-Logic Training, a new programme of online energy training courses.

It has been a longer journey than I hoped – the IT was much more complicated than I thought it would be – but I persevered, and am proud of the result.

It seems apt that I’m launching these courses at a time when energy markets are all over the news, and people are scrambling to understand what’s happening and why. A lot of myths are being perpetuated, for example that the current crisis could have been prevented if we had invested more in renewable generation with many people not appreciating that there is no number of windfarms that would improve capacity margins when the weather is not windy!

There is also a significant debate now taking place across the media about whether the retail price cap is protecting consumers, with claims that suppliers are under stress because they are poorly managed rather than because of poor policy decisions. I think that if supplier failures were driven primarily by mis-management then when suppliers fail they would be replaced by new, better run businesses. But since 2018 there has been a steady reduction in the number of suppliers operating in the market.

Of course, I discuss these topics at length on my blog, but with these courses, my aim is to provide insights into the underlying structure of the energy markets, and how they operate in practice. These courses provide facts about the nature of the markets rather than opinion about whether the market structures and regulations that underpin them are appropriate.

“It is known that knowledge is power, and power is energy, and energy is matter, and matter is mass, and therefore large accumulations of knowledge distort time and space,”
– Terry Pratchett, The Science of Discworld

I am initially beginning with four courses, with more in the pipeline:

• A free introduction to electricity markets which begins with a history of the discovery of electricity and the properties of electro-magnetism, before going on the look at the development of electricity markets in GB;
• An introduction to electricity trading, beginning with the post-war nationalisation of the industry, before moving though the early years of privatisation and the electricity pool, to NETA / BETTA and the current wholesale electricity markets;
  
• A detailed exploration of the range of subsidies and support schemes in the GB energy markets from the Climate Change Levy to the new Green Gas Support Scheme; and
  
• A detailed exploration of the non-commodity components of electricity bills.

These courses can be done at your own pace, and there is a quiz at the end of each lesson to test your knowledge. I also offer bespoke courses which can be delivered in person or online.

I hope you find my training courses interesting and useful!

Visit Watt-Logic Training here.