Featured Posts
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 [...]
Energy security strategy: worryingly vague, worryingly long-term and worryingly still supply focused
Last night the Government announced its much anticipated energy security strategy, with the full version appearing this afternoon. The [...]
Price cap subsidies for every household as default tariff hits record highs
This morning Ofgem has announced a record increase in the level of the default tariff price cap, from £1,277 [...]
Recent Posts
Electric shock: the Government struggles to address the energy market crisis
The energy market crisis is suddenly big news. It is impossible to open a newspaper or turn on the television or radio without hearing stories of rising bills and supplier bankruptcies. Energy is no longer a footnote in the [...]
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 [...]
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 higher, but also causing supply issues in industries such as fertiliser manufacture which rely on natural gas as a feedstock. [...]
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, it isn’t couched in those terms, but the Government has announced that it will appoint a Special Administrator to run [...]
Two more suppliers fail as energy prices soar
In the year and a half from the beginning of 2020 to July 2021 UK power day-ahead prices effectively doubled, and everyone from suppliers, three of whom have closed in recent weeks, and another two today: Utility Point and [...]
Damning NAO report into the Green Homes Voucher Scheme
This week the National Audit Office (“NAO”) has published a damning report into the Government’s failed Green Homes Grant Voucher Scheme. The scheme was originally announced in July 2020, as part of the UK’s “green recovery” from the pandemic, [...]
High wholesale prices spell bad news for struggling suppliers
I have been writing recently about the need for radical reform of the retail energy market, and predicted that this autumn would see more supplier failures. Today, another two energy suppliers announced their closure today: PfP Energy (formerly Places [...]
Developing smart energy markets for suppliers and consumers
Last week I was invited to speak at the Westminster Energy, Environment & Transport Forum on the subject of smart energy markets. The transcript of my speech is below: Developing smart energy markets for suppliers and consumers - [...]
Government consults on greenwashing in retail energy tariffs
The Government has finally announced a review of so-called “green tariffs” to assess whether suppliers are communicating appropriately with consumers, or whether they are engaging in “greenwashing”. According to the Government, 9 million British households are now on green [...]
Capacity auctions underline changes to the market structure
March saw the latest capacity market auctions: the T-1 auction for delivery in 2021/22 was held on the 12th and the T-4 auction for 2024/25 was concluded on 22nd. The assets leaving the auction compared with those succeeding highlight [...]
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