Energy Policy
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 regulatory mistakes that resulted in [...]
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 my letter, a short response [...]
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 is that Nero was both [...]
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 – its proposals to consult on [...]
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 of being asleep at the [...]
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, and in this respect the [...]
Life continues to be difficult for energy suppliers. This week Omni Energy informed its customers that it expects to cease trading by the end of November, and is encouraging its customers to switch before it closes and a Supplier of Last Resort (SOLR) is [...]
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 business pages, with some outlets [...]
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 any supplier that fails if [...]
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 People’s Energy, to end consumers [...]