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The government is "rigging the market in favour of new-build combined cycle gas turbines (CCGTs)," according to Labour peer Baroness Bryony Worthington.
12 years ago
The trade union GMB, has said that renationalisation of the water sector should be a "top priority" for the next Labour Party election manifesto.
Two weeks ago, the government issued a flurry of energy policies. Media platforms from the national broadsheets to Twitter were abuzz with chatter about the capacity mechanism, the renewables strike price, the estimates that 40 trillion cubic metres of shale gas lie beneath the north of England. So no-one noticed when, the day after, Ofgem slipped out a drily worded announcement concerning "the closure of [an] investigation under the Competition Act". It was closing the investigation on the grounds of "administrative priority", it said. Or, to put it another way, Ofgem was dropping a cartel investigation into the big six because it had more important things to do.
Mathew Beech profiles three of the companies taking on the big six, each in its own way.
Utility Week asked some independent renewable generators and green groups how they'd like to see the Energy Bill emerge from the Lords. Here's what they said
The draft Electricity Market Reform (EMR) delivery plan is sending "mixed messages" about the role offshore wind has to play in the UK's future energy mix, according to Renewable UK.
Severn Trent spent £19 million on legal advice to handle the rejection of a takeover bid last month.
A flurry of mergers among water companies looked like a distant prospect this week as DEFRA indicated its reluctance to remove hurdles to M&A.
Energy and climate change secretary Greg Barker has confirmed that householders could get paid hundreds of pounds as part of the renewable heat incentive (RHI).
On the surface, government plans to streamline regulatory appeals seem sensible, but in practice they dilute utilities' ability to hold regulators and competition authorities to account, says Peter Willis
Judging by findings from Utility Week/Accent's latest Senior Executive Panel survey, the new version of the Water Bill should offer some comfort to the industry on resilience issues, but there is still a lot to be worked out. Karma Ockenden reports
Europe must urgently find extra support for carbon capture and storage (CCS) or lose all claim to lead the world on climate action, a regulatory expert has warned.
The use of scenarios is vital if companies are to present the robust and well justified plans the regulator is demanding, say Liz Parminter and John Parsonage
Energy Intensive Industries (EIIs) will be protected from higher energy costs caused by contracts for difference (CfDs), under proposals made by the government yesterday.
Utilities are starting to reciprocally share consumer arrears data with other credit providers. Ben Ecroyd explains why
Better for DNOs to upgrade their data management capabilities now than panic-buy smart grid solutions later, says Neil McNeill
