Featured Posts
Gas market tightness causing prices to surge and questions over security of supply
Gas market tightness has caused prices to rise sharply over the past few weeks, not only pushing electricity prices [...]
Circling the drain: the prospect of bailouts in the energy sector
Today the Business Secretary, Kwasi Kwarteng, has raised the prospect of nationalising parts of the electricity industry. Of course, [...]
With tight margins and high prices, was Winter 2020 a sign of things to come?
Winter 2020 was a bumpy ride in the GB electricity market. Electricity Margin Notices ("EMN") (the new name for [...]
Recent Posts
EPR: progress at Olkiluoto but Flamanville sees new delays and cost increases
Yesterday EDF announced a further delay to the schedule for its troubled flagship European Pressurised Water Reactor (“EPR”) at Flamanville: fuelling is now expected to start at the end of Q2 next year, delayed from late 2022. The project [...]
After the energy market chaos in 2021…expect more of the same in 2022
A year ago I wrote a post about all the words we used in 2020, and it’s interesting how many of these were forgotten in 2021. Of course, covid was still a key theme of 2021, but it didn’t [...]
LNG diversions see gas prices ease, but the ships can still re-divert
I didn’t really go out on a limb in my last post when I predicted that energy markets would continue to make headlines this year – the last few days have seen a lot of people wondering what on [...]
Accelerated SOLR cost recovery eases pressure on suppliers but will add to bills
Several people have reached out to me today asking me to comment on Ofgem’s announcement about the SOLR cost recovery, so I’m writing this quick blog on the subject. Back in October, Ofgem published a letter setting out its [...]
An alternative Christmas Carol
Had a certain Mr Dickens been around this year, I like to think that his Christmas-themed morality tale might have gone a little differently... It was a cold, dark Christmas eve, and the Prime Minister, like most other souls [...]
Nuclear update: EDF brings forward AGR closures, while progress at Hinkley Point C is under threat
EDF announced this week that it is bringing forward the closure dates of two of its nuclear power stations - Heysham 2 in Lancashire, and Tornesss in East Lothian, are now expected to close in 31 March 2028 instead [...]
Will Ofgem’s plans for prudential regulation in energy pay off?
In recent months there have been increasing calls for the introduction of prudential regulation in the energy markets, in response to the large number of suppliers that has failed this year. Supplier failures are a cause for concern because, [...]
Retail market pressures continue while Ofgem comes under fire in new report
Retail market pressures continue with the news that Ofgem has confirmed this year’s record Renewables Obligation (“RO”) mutualisation of £218 million, and Elexon has confirmed the proposed record Credit Assessment Price level of £305 /MWh. There is also bad [...]
A new approach to energy regulation
Today I was invited to speak at this month's meeting of the Parliamentary Group for Energy Studies on the subject of the current energy crisis, and what should be done about it. Here is my presentation, setting out the [...]
Lots of energy market news, none of it good
There has been a slew of energy market news in the past couple of days, but none of it is good. Yesterday, Zog Energy became the 29th energy supplier to fail this year. The company had 11,700 domestic customers [...]
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