Strategy, policy & regulation

Editor's Picks

Ofwat sets ‘very problematic’ revised PR24 schedule

Ofwat may not make its final rulings on water companies' £100 billion business plans until the end of January 2025, just two months before the next asset management period begins. Senior water company figures told Utility Week that the revised timetable is "very problematic" and "borderline ridiculous".

1 year ago

ESO may ‘snatch defeat from the jaws of victory’ over DFS penalty proposals

1 year ago

Labour promises ‘much tougher’ regulation of energy market

1 year ago

Ofgem to extend bad debt support provision in price cap

1 year ago

Let’s be pragmatic – not dogmatic – about the future of gas

1 year ago

Latest

Time to be smart about financing net zero

2 years ago

REMA creating low carbon investment ‘hiatus’

2 years ago

Ofgem seeks views on ending PPM premium

2 years ago

Eustice urges Coffey to hold her nerve on single social tariff

2 years ago

Thames reveals £1.1bn plan to upgrade 250 treatment sites

2 years ago

Suppliers increasingly in breach of legal requirements

2 years ago

ESO failing to tackle grid connection woes

The electricity system operator (ESO) is failing to tackle transmission queue management problems, an influential group of MPs has claimed. The cross-party group said it welcomed National Grid ESO’s five point plan to tackle transmission queue management issues, published in February, but said the measures have “not proved successful to date”. They warn that failing to improve grid connections puts the UK’s target of a fossil-fuel free grid by 2035 at risk.

2 years ago

MPs vote for energy scrutiny committee chair

Scottish National MP Angus MacNeil has been elected as chair of the House of Commons new Energy Security and Net Zero Committee. The committee has been established to scrutinise the work of the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ), which was set up earlier this year.

2 years ago

No time to lose

In March Ofgem published three significant and related consultations around the future regulation of networks. The consultations specifically relate to the successor to RIIO, local governance and distributed flexibility. Ofgem claims that “there is not a moment to lose” given the imperative to meet net zero. However, Maxine Frerk, former senior partner at the regulator, argues that Ofgem risks blocking momentum by heading back to the drawing board on frameworks and archetypes.

2 years ago

Data rich, fuel poor

As Utility Week launches our Action on Bills campaign, PA Consulting’s Amy Marshall looks at how technology can be used to move the dial on fuel poverty at the time we need it most.

2 years ago

Limited ‘window of opportunity’ to bolster UK infrastructure

The UK is at risk of missing the “window of opportunity” to prepare the country’s infrastructure for the effects of climate change, the National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) and Climate Change Committee (CCC) have warned. The two organisations have urged ministers to urgently develop more effective plans to improve the resilience of infrastructure, in a joint letter sent to deputy prime minister Oliver Dowden and environment secretary Thérèse Coffey. They warn that not doing so puts the country’s infrastructure at risk.

2 years ago

Winter is coming so where is the plan?

2 years ago

National Gas Transmission wins funding for hydrogen ‘backbone’

2 years ago

Shapps: Levy likely to be introduced to fund social tariff

Grant Shapps has hinted that any social tariff for low-income households is likely to be paid for via a levy. Giving evidence to the House of Lords environment and climate change committee, the energy secretary revealed that he and Chancellor Jeremy Hunt are likely to consult on the introduction of a social tariff this autumn. Shapps was also pressed to give more clarity on the government’s timetable for a decision on the future of home heating.

2 years ago

Utility Week calls for Action on Bills

2 years ago

Beware the lessons of past transitions

2 years ago

Thames chair Ian Marchant to step down

2 years ago

Water Industry Awards finalists revealed

2 years ago

More than £160m in energy support vouchers remains unclaimed

2 years ago

Scrap heat pump and solar planning rules, urges thinktank

Planning rules on the installation of rooftop solar panels and heat pumps should be scrapped, a new report by an influential right-wing thinktank has urged. The Policy Exchange’s report, Re-engineering regulation: an A-Z of reform, outlines 26 case studies of regulation with "unintended, perverse consequences".

2 years ago