Energy Policy
Transmission charging is far from simple even in the traditional model of electricity networks, as illustrated by the diagram below. In principle, the costs of bringing electricity from large units of generation to consumers is socialised across users via three main tariffs: Transmission Use of [...]
The question of electricity market competitiveness is never far away, particularly when any of the Big 6 suppliers raise their prices. The level of concern about potential anti-competitive behaviour by the big suppliers who dominate the GB market prompted an investigation by the Competition [...]
In my last post I wrote about the increasing cost of environmental policies on the back of prices rises from npower and a capacity auction that will secure capacity for next winter at over three times the price of the scheme it replaced. Since [...]
The cost of electricity is in the news once again with the move by supplier npower last week to increase prices by 15%, arguing that higher wholesale prices together with increased non-commodity costs could no longer be absorbed by the supplier. Last week also saw [...]
The early capacity auction designed to secure security of supply for 2017/18 has entered its fourth day, with the price having dropped to £15 /kW by the end of yesterday’s round, some way below the expected clearing level of around £20 / kW and [...]
Germany’s Energiewende and the resulting rapid expansion of renewable energy in Germany has been held out as the model for other nations to follow, but there are growing doubts as to its effectiveness. As I have noted before, the decision to exit nuclear power [...]
Last summer the House of Commons Energy and Climate Committee raised questions about the conflicts of interest inherent in National Grid’s role as the electricity system operator and recommended that the government should create an independent SO to mitigate these concerns (described in my [...]
Last week saw the publication of Stephen Hendry’s long awaited report into the prospects for tidal energy in the UK, and the hyperbole in the press has been interesting to observe. In his report, Hendry concludes: “I believe that the evidence is clear that [...]
This week saw the launch of a £19 million 3-year local energy market pilot in Cornwall. The programme, developed by Centrica and co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund, comprises four elements: A virtual flexibility marketplace; A DSR platform for businesses; Energy storage; and [...]
A few months ago I wrote about the smart meter roll-out in the UK. My main conclusions were that this project is premature and likely to cost more and deliver less than projected. I broke my concerns down into a number of key areas: [...]