Leader: See you in Brighton, Manchester and Aberdeen

Got that sinking feeling? It must be party conference season. Since the ill-fated, erstwhile Labour leader Ed Miliband stood up at a party conference in September 2013 and pledged an energy price freeze, the annual political shindigs have been open season on utilities. This year, however, utilities are speaking up for themselves. Utility Week, in association with the Energy Networks Association, kicked off a series of political events with a reception at the House of ­Commons last week (p8) – and we’ll be taking the industry’s messages to the party conferences with our series of panel debates and a soon-to-be-launched policy paper.

For a taste of what’s to come, here are the top five things we’ll be looking out for in Brighton, Manchester and Aberdeen this autumn:

1. Conference season kicks off with Labour in Brighton this weekend, and it’s fair to say an energy price freeze will be the last thing on anyone’s mind. With attention from the party – and the national media – firmly fixed on new leader Jeremy Corbyn, we’ll be keen to see whether newly appointed shadow energy secretary Lisa Nandy holds his line on the renationalisation of energy companies (she’s already broken ranks on nuclear).

2. On to Manchester, where the message from industry to government is loud and clear: clarity and consistency, please. As EMR teeters from a series of random cuts and tweaks, a statement of the government’s position on energy policy is becoming well overdue.

3. Talking of overdue, what’s the CMA up to? It seems to have come over all John Chilcot, announcing a six-month delay to its final report this week. Ever optimistic, we’ll hope that industry’s well-argued response has given it pause for thought over some of its more interventionist proposals, such as the backstop tariff. In the meantime, we’ll be asking ministers, why the delay? And what is their current thinking on the energy retail market?

4. While we’re in Manchester, we’ll be interested to hear what the government has to say on water, because so far we’ve heard nothing at all. Still, as the companies know, flying under the ­political radar can be no bad thing…

5. Up in Aberdeen, we’ll be getting to know the new players on the political scene. Angus MacNeil, chair of the Energy and Climate Change Select Committee, made a well-received entrance at our House of Commons reception last week with a committee agenda that includes the impact the government’s policy flip-flops are ­having on investor confidence. We look forward to hearing more.