Interesting links, articles, news and blog posts sent out to members on 08/08/22.
News: Distributor passes on £280m in higher energy prices to cover market carnage – City Am
8 August 2022, Nicholas Earl. The UK’s biggest electricity distributor has passed on hundreds of millions of pounds in higher prices to energy users to cover the cost of a wave of failed energy suppliers during the industry crisis:
Link: https://www.cityam.com/distributor-passes-on-280m-in-higher-energy-prices-to-cover-market-carnage/
Policy paper: Electricity networks strategic framework – Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy and Ofgem
4 August 2022. This strategic framework sets out actions the government and Ofgem are taking to ensure the electricity network can act as an enabler of a secure, resilient, net zero energy system:
Link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/electricity-networks-strategic-framework
Comment: Enough is enough: this winter I will be refusing to pay my energy bills – Guardian Online
4 August 2022. Tens of thousands of Britons have made a pledge to the Don’t Pay campaign. It’s a last resort, but we’ve no other choice. Christopher (a pseudonym) is in his 70s and lives in South Yorkshire:
News: BEIS asks CCC to keep Lord Deben in post as chair – Edie.net
4 August 2022, Sarah George. The UK Government’s independent climate advisory body, the Climate Change Committee (CCC), has confirmed that its chair Lord Deben will stay in post for nine months longer than originally intended:
Link: https://www.edie.net/beis-asks-ccc-to-keep-lord-deben-in-post-as-chair/
Report: Facilitating the deployment of large-scale and long duration electricity storage: Government Response – Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy
This document covers the government response followed by a summary of responses. Each chapter begins with a short introduction to the policy area and an outline of the questions asked, followed by a summary of responses received. Overall, 66 responses were received from a range of stakeholders:
News: Energy Networks Association launches flexibility consultation – Current News
2 August 2022, Molly Lempriere. The Energy Networks Association (ENA) has launched its annual flexibility consultation, as part of its Open Networks project. Opening on the 1 August, the consultation is looking for views into how to further develop the processes that underpin Britain’s flexibility market:
Link: https://www.current-news.co.uk/news/energy-networks-association-launches-flexibility-consultation
News: Generation ends at Hinkley Point B nuclear power station after more than four decades – Edie.net
1 August 2022, Sarah George. EDF has confirmed that generation has been switched off at the second and final reactor at Hinkley Point B power station in Somerset as planned, sparking further debate about the UK Government’s plans to close the nuclear generation gap:
News: Can ‘social tariffs’ solve the UK’s looming fuel poverty cataclysm? – Guardian Online
30 July 2022, Rob Davies . As thoughts turn to the colder months ahead, households already grappling with the cost of living crisis have been warned to brace themselves for punishing energy bills. The price cap – set by energy regulator Ofgem – has already jumped by £693 this year, rising to £1,971 for the average dual fuel tariff from April. But things are about to get a lot worse:
News: Record profits put energy firms in Westminster crosshairs once again – City Am
29 July 2022, Nicholas Earl. Energy giants triggered a fierce backlash yesterday after unveiling massive profits powered by soaring oil and gas prices:
Link: https://www.cityam.com/record-profits-put-energy-firms-in-westminster-crosshairs-once-again/
Response: BEIS’ Consultation on the Energy Bills Support Scheme, April 2022 – Ofgem
29 July 2022. Ofgem is Great Britain’s independent energy regulator with a principal aim to protect the interests of current and future energy consumers, especially vulnerable people. In this role, Ofgem responds here to the BEIS’ Consultation on the Energy Bills Support Scheme, April 2022:
Article: Energy Regulator Plans Help With Bills Through ‘Increased Consumer Debt’ – Politics Home
28 July 2022, Chaminda Jayanetti. Energy regulator Ofgem is considering plans to help cash-strapped prepayment customers avoid getting disconnected – but only by getting into debt instead:
Collection: UK energy in brief – Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy
18 July 2022. This series brings together all documents relating to UK energy in brief:
Link: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/uk-energy-in-brief
News: ‘Insult to millions’: Shell and Centrica profits cause outrage as energy bills soar – Guardian Online
28 July 2022, Rob Davies. News of billion-pound profits comes after UK households warned average annual bill could hit £3,850 by 2023:
News: British Gas owner Centrica and Shell see profits soar as bills rise – BBC News Online
28 July 2022, Noor Nanji British Gas owner Centrica and Shell have posted huge profits due to rising energy prices, as UK households face even higher energy bills:
Link: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-62330190
News: Westminster committee sticks the boot into Ofgem as households suffer record energy bills – City AM
26 July 2022, Nicholas Earl. MPs have raised doubts over Ofgem’s ability to clean up the energy market, following mass carnage which saw over 30 suppliers collapse amid soaring wholesale costs, directly affecting over four million customers and driving energy bills to record highs:
Open consultation – Future policy framework for power with carbon capture, usage and storage (CCUS): call for evidence – Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy
25 July 2022. Views and evidence sought on how to support the future deployment of power with carbon capture, usage and storage. This consultation closes at
11:45pm on 17 October 2022:
Report: Energy pricing and the future of the energy market – Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy Committee
26 July 2022. The UK needs to reduce its dependence on imported gas. Energy efficiency is the quickest and most cost-effective way to reduce gas demand and lower energy bills. The absence of a home insulation programme is an unacceptable gap in policy that must be rectified. The BEIS Committee reiterate their previous calls for the Government to implement urgent, far-reaching, and long-term measures to retrofit the UK housing stock:
Link: https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/23255/documents/169712/default/
News: The heat is on for energy firms as high prices send profits soaring – Guardian Online
24 July 2022, Alex Lawson. Centrica investors may be hoping for a dividend, but by winter its customers will just be hoping they can afford a warm home:
Article: Peter Aldous: We need a social tariff to help ease the cost of living crisis – Politics Home
21 July 2022, Peter Aldous MP. There is no other way of saying it: we are in the grip of a cost of living crisis. Regular reminders of the rising cost of essential goods and services dominate the news and show no sign of abating:
Link: https://www.politicshome.com/thehouse/article/peter-aldous-social-tariff-cost-of-living-crisis
National statistics: Household Energy Efficiency Statistics, headline release July 2022 – Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy
21 July 2022 Household Energy Efficiency Statistics, headline release (July 2022):