Featured Posts
Time to accept that wind farm costs are not falling
There has been a consistent narrative that the cost of building new wind farms is falling, with falling subsidy [...]
Windfall tax harms oil and gas production and must be cut
In May last year, the UK Government introduced a windfall tax on the profits of oil and gas companies [...]
Why Norway’s views on energy security should ring alarm bells across Europe
Norway's energy security would appear to be a done deal, yet the past couple of years have been very [...]
Addressing the high real cost of renewable generation
Over the past few months we have been inundated with claims from interested parties that more renewables are the [...]
Recent Posts
Ofgem’s response to my letter leaves more questions than answers
This evening I received Ofgem's response to my Open Letter in which I asked it to explain why it is not meeting the objectives set out in the price cap legislation. The reply was brief, containing a summary of [...]
Fiddling with the price cap while the market burns
Legend has it that when a great fire broke out in Rome in 64 AD, Emperor Nero played music (unlikely to be an actual fiddle since those were not invented until the 11th century). The moral of the story [...]
Beyond climate: where energy meets ESG
Last week I took part in a live webcast for the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment on the subject of energy markets and its intersection with ESG (environmental, social and governance) investing. Here is the presentation I made: [...]
New ways of measuring grid inertia will support integration of renewable generation
Last week National Grid ESO announced that it has begun to use a novel new tool for measuring grid inertia. One of the challenges of managing an electricity system with a large amount of intermittent generation is maintaining grid [...]
Six more supplier failures so far this week
Six more energy supplier failures have been annouced this week. Monday saw the closure of Bluegreen Energy (which supplied around 5,900 domestic and a small number of non-domestic customers). On Tuesday four suppliers ceased trading: Zebra Power (around 14,800 [...]
An open letter to the energy regulator
Today Ofgem has written to suppliers to outline its response to current market conditions. It is difficult not to conclude that the regulator is inhabiting some strange alternative reality in which the usual rules of economics don’t apply – [...]
Is Ofgem’s regulation of energy markets appropriate?
The failure of GoTo Energy on 18 October brought the total number of supplier failures this year to 16, with 14 since August. Questions are increasingly being asked of Ofgem’s handling of the crisis, with many accusing the regulator [...]
The Net Zero Strategy: disappointingly one-dimensional
Last week the Government published its Net Zero strategy, building on last year’s 10-point plan, with some laudable aims to make the UK a world-leader in the “Green Industrial Revolution”. But, as always, the devil is in the detail, [...]
Domino effect: exit of gas shipper may push more suppliers to fail
This week has seen the failure of three more energy suppliers: Pure Planet which supplies gas and electricity to around 235,000 domestic customers, Colorado Energy with around 15,000 domestic customers, and Daligas with around 9,000 domestic and non-domestic customers. [...]
Security of supply is shakier than it has been in decades
Current high gas prices combined with a period of low wind output in September have re-awakened concern about security of supply, including among the general public – today my doctor asked me if he was going to be able [...]
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