Utility Week

UTILITY WEEK | 6TH - 12TH JULY 2018 | 11 Policy & Regulation This week Cave would challenge political interference Academic poised to lead energy regulator Ofgem says he would 'strike out an independent path' Ofgem's proposed new chair has said he would fight moves by ministers to interfere with its work. At a hearing to confirm his appointment, Professor Martin Cave told the House of Commons Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy select committee that if he thought he was being asked to do something that was an unnecessary infringement on Ofgem's independence, he would "resist with all my might and main". "You have to strike out an independ- ent path and have the courage of your convictions." Cave also expressed scepticism that vulnerable customers will be able to find good deals in the energy market by the time the government's mooted price cap runs out. "[Customers] aren't being very well served because prices are too high. The problem particularly arises in the retail sector where the big six companies exercise too much power." And Cave revealed his doubts that low-income customers will be able to access competitive deals in five years' time when the price cap is due to expire under legislation currently going through parliament. He also told the committee that he did not favour creating new DNOs to compete with the existing network providers, but expected to see consumers "bypassing" these local monopolies by generating their own electric- ity using renewable technologies. He said Ofgem will have sufficient powers to tackle consumer detriment for households once the price cap legislation is in place. DB ELECTRICITY UK should embrace cheap green power The UK can cost-effectively slash the carbon intensity of electricity generation by 2030, according to a report from the climate change watchdog, whose chair has called for an acceleration of the mooted sales ban on petrol cars. In its latest annual report on progress to tackle emissions, the Committee on Climate Change shows the carbon emission intensity of UK generation can be cut from the 2017 level of 265 grammes of CO2 per kilowatt- hour to below 100g CO2 per kWh without significantly increas- ing costs. The reduction can be achieved with planned increases in nuclear and renewable gen- eration and a rollout of new and relatively inexpensive onshore and solar power. ENERGY Wales sets first carbon budgets The Welsh Government has set its first two carbon budgets and interim targets to reduce green- house gas emissions over the next 20 years and beyond. Lesley Griffiths, Welsh cabinet secretary for energy, planning and rural affairs, said the first carbon budget will cover 2016- 20 with an average reduction of 23 per cent, and the second carbon budget will cover 2021-25, with an average 33 per cent cut. The minister also announced details of the Welsh govern- ment's interim greenhouse reduction targets – a 27 per cent reduction by 2020, 45 per cent by 2030 and 67 per cent by 2040. The announcement follows the publication of the latest annual progress report by the Committee on Climate Change, which concluded the UK is not on track to meet its legally binding fourth (2023-27) and fih (2028-32) carbon budgets. ENERGY Robinson to join markets authority Consumer champion Ann Robin- son is to join Ofgem's governing body, the Gas and Electricity Markets Authority, as a non- executive director. Robinson has been appointed to the role with Lynne Embleton, who will also join the group as a non-executive director. Embleton is chief executive of IAG Cargo and previously served on the board of British Airways as the managing director at Gat- wick and strategy director. Robinson has experience in energy and consumer policy, and previously worked in the civil service before becoming chief executive of Scope. This was followed by a period as director-general of the British Retail Consortium and the executive chair of Energy Watch. Cave says customers are not well served Political Agenda David Blackman "The CCC has laid down markers for decarbonisation" Politics can be cruel. It is unfor- tunate that Lord Deben is likely to be remembered for feeding burgers to his then four-year-old daughter during the early Nine- ties "mad cow" disease crisis. The then John Gummer's stunt, designed to prove British beef was safe, will inevitably overshadow decades of sterling service tackling climate change. And the ex-member of the Church of England's General Synod is still at it at the age of 78, these days preaching from in the first quarter of this year, according to figures published on the same day as the CCC report. But the CCC has laid down markers in some areas, princi- pally heat and transport, where it believes concrete steps must be taken on decarbonisation before the end of next year. Without these, it warned the UK will miss its carbon budget targets from 2023 onwards. Lord Deben has yet again demonstrated he is not shy about getting his message across. his pulpit as chair of the Com- mittee on Climate Change (CCC). Last week the body, which was set up to police the govern- ment's efforts to achieve the UK's 2008 Climate Change Act emissions reduction targets, pub- lished its annual progress report, in which it did a stock take of headway over the past decade. The assessment was positive overall, with a gold star awarded to the electricity generation sector for its success in cutting emissions. This has chiefly been achieved by replacing pollut- ing coal power stations with clean renewable energy, which accounted for more than 30 per cent of total electricity generation

• Cover