Energy Policy
The USA has often been seen as at the forefront of the energy transition (or at least some states such as California have), although progress has been relatively slow - the first half of 2023 was the first time that wind and solar power [...]
Today the Telegraph published an opinion piece I wrote on electric cars, linked here. My sources for the article are listed at the bottom of this post. Of course, this is an opinion piece for a newspaper, so it’s written in a particular way [...]
Hot on the heels of widespread annoyance over energy suppliers’ mythical profits, comes a new report from the Centre for Policy Studies saying that the price cap is stifling energy market competition and costing consumers money. In fact, this is just the latest in [...]
I have frequently been critical of Ofgem in its regulation of the retail energy sector, advocating for the Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) to take over, so it has been deeply disappointing to see the extent to which the FCA has been asleep at the [...]
Two years ago, National Grid ESO’s Future Energy Scenarios (“FES”) celebrated their 10th birthday. I took a look back at how the scenarios had developed and whether the predictions outlined within them came true as time went on, to whether the FES are useful [...]
Along with most everyone else in the energy market I have been of the opinion that coal power stations in the UK must close by law by 1 October 2024. I have learned that this is not in fact correct. In late 2020 the [...]
There has been a consistent narrative that the cost of building new wind farms is falling, with falling subsidy prices being offered as evidence. I have challenged this narrative in the past, pointing out that evidence from the accounts of windfarms themselves does not [...]
On 30 March, the French Parliament published a report entitled “D’enquête visant à établir les raisons de la perte de souveraineté et d’indépendance énergétique de la France” or “Inquiry aimed at establishing the reasons for the loss of sovereignty and energy independence of France”. [...]
My blog is 7 years old today! This past year has seen some interesting and unexpected developments for my business and my blog. The blog has been more widely read than ever, particularly my articles about Norway, one of which went genuinely viral on [...]
In May last year, the UK Government introduced a windfall tax on the profits of oil and gas companies operating on the UK Continental Shelf (“UKCS”), in response to press stories about “excess” energy company profits. Regular readers will know my feelings about this [...]