William Blyth argues that a more honest and rational approach to energy
subsidies would benefit consumers
Perspective
Politicians should mind their language on PV
by New Power • • Comments Off
Catherine Strickland says that it’s time to look at the bigger picture when considering the popularity of solar energy development in the UK – and that mixed messages from the government could be detrimental to the UK’s energy security.…
Existing gas meters could have ‘smart’ capabilities at little cost
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Ray Cope argues that smart meters will do little to solve some systematic billing errors in gas – but existing meters have unused capacity that could fix the problem. The political furore about energy prices has now died down somewhat.…
Why is P272′s quick win stuck in the slow lane?
by New Power • • Comments Off
In 2011 SmartestEnergy raised a modification (referred to as P272) to industry codes that would mandate the use of real half-hourly (HH) usage data to settle bills for larger energy users, instead of their bills being calculated using one of…
Why the Micropower Council became the Sustainable Energy Association
by New Power • • Comments Off
Self-production from users of sustainable sources of heat and power within energy efficient buildings has made striking progress over the last decade. We have moved from a simple range of promising technologies and ideas – taken up by a small…
The wind skills base needs both offshore and onshore development to thrive
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The government has signalled it understands the need for more funding to help the UK develop its offshore wind industry, but with onshore wind an established, secure source of power, it needs to consider fully the ramifications of cutting subsidies.…
What trilemma?
by New Power • • Comments Off
The government has said for many years that it has three aims for energy policy: security of supply, affordability, and decarbonisation. It has been neatly summed up in recent years as the energy “trilemma”, which makes clear the inherent tensions…
Fracking: the water industry clarifies its position
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The UK water industry’s position on shale gas fracking – that there are risks but they can be mitigated – has led to both dismay and delight on each side of the debate. In the pro-shale gas extraction camp, there…
Big Six price rises and falls
by New Power • • 1 Comment
Company Increase, (electricity/gas), % Date Reduction, % Date British Gas 10.4/8.4 23 Nov 3.2 1 Jan EDF Energy 3.9 3 Jan E.On 3.7/4.6 18 Jan Npower 9.3/11.1 1 Dec 2.6 28 Feb SSE 8.20 15 Nov 3.5 24 Mar…
We must consider the total cost of infrastructure spending and its consumer impact
by New Power • • Comments Off
Last month the National Audit Office (NAO) suggested that government needs to look more closely at how its policies on investing in the UK’s infrastructure affect customers’ pockets. The key points of the NAO’s report[1] were that the cost of…