UTILITY WEEK | 16TH - 22ND NOVEMBER 2018 |
17
Policy & Regulation
Speakers'
views:
George Day, head of markets,
policy and regulation, Energy
Systems Catapult
"Whole systems can
sound abstract and
long term – if you
want to develop a
market, and want
to innovate and sell
hybrid heat pumps,
Matt Rooney, engineering
policy adviser, the Institution of
Mechanical Engineers
"You can learn from
Australia on what not
to do. What political
instability does to
carbon pricing where
they had a plan for
ETS, then they had a
tax, then they with-
drew the tax all in the
space of a few years. It
is an interesting case
study to look at."
David Joffe, acting head of carbon
budgets, the Committee on
Climate Change
"I'd like to see
increased focus on
how we can use
cheap renewables
to accelerate the
electrification of the
transport and heat
sectors during the
2020s, and not just
wait until the 2030s
and 2040s. What are
the mechanisms by
which we can pull
that through?"
Simon Virley, partner and head
of energy at KPMG and former
director general for energy at
the Department for Energy and
Climate Change
"The system of long-
term contracts for dif-
ference we introduced
in the power sector
has helped reduce the
costs of decarbonisa-
tion by providing
greater certainty for
investors and thereby
reducing the costs
of capital. Theoreti-
cally, the government
could increase carbon
taxes to achieve the
same end result,
but investors know
that tax levels can
be changed each
year in the Budget.
Grandfathered private
law contracts tie
government's hands
and could prove a
useful tool as we seek
to decarbonise the
heat and transport
sectors."
Andy Limbrick, environmental
consultant, Energy UK
"I think we need to
establish a clear post-
Brexit baseline for
carbon pricing and
make sure we main-
tain strong cross-
party agreement on
the need to tackle
climate change."
then your market is
going to be affected
by the imbalance
between gas electric-
ity prices that we
have now. Taxing gas
when people haven't
got an alternative is a
problem, but the alter-
native will not emerge
unless something is
done about the frame-
work of incentives."
Brought to you in association with
