Utility Week

10 | 8TH - 14TH FEBRUARY 2019 | UTILITY WEEK Policy & Regulation This week Our Power collapse won't halt Holyrood End of non-profit supplier will not be the end of the road for public energy supplier in Scotland The Scottish government has confirmed its commitment to set- ting up a publicly owned energy company despite the collapse of Our Power. Aileen Campbell, cabinet sec- retary for communities and local government, told the Scottish parliament that the government had been notified before Christ- mas that the not-for-profit supplier was in financial difficulties. She said: "We will, of course, continue to develop proposals that will deliver the ambition of a public energy company, and we are on track to deliver that ambition by the end of this session of parliament." She added that the Scottish government's plans for a public energy company complement its "much wider work" on energy consumers and fuel poverty. With more than half of all customers still on "expensive" standard variable tariffs, she said a new supplier will provide Scottish consumers with more choice. But the minister expressed "disappointment" with the failure of Our Power, which has led to around 70 job losses, mainly in the poor Edinburgh neighbourhood of Craigmiller. She said: "The approach was a new attempt to find a way to give predominantly social tenants access to low-cost power. Our Power did so for three-and-a-half years. I reiterate and underline how disappointing it is that, ultimately, the approach has not quite succeeded in this case." Our Power's customers will be transferred to Utilita, with the Scottish government providing energy- efficiency support to Our Power customers as needed. DB ENERGY CMA to review prepay price cap The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has decided to review its imposition of a price cap on prepayment tariffs. The review, which follows a consultation with stakeholders, will consider whether to revoke or alter the cap given the slower than anticipated rollout of smart meters and the introduction of the market-wide cap on default tariffs at the beginning of 2019. The cap, which came into effect in December 2016, limits the unit rate and standing charge for households on a prepayment meter until the deadline for the completion of the smart meter rollout at the end of 2020. ELECTRICITY Chancellor 'hopeful' of Wylfa rethink The chancellor, Philip Ham- mond, has said he hopes Hitachi may still build a new nuclear plant in north Wales. The Japanese multinational recently announced it has sus- pended its UK nuclear devel- opment programme, halting work at Wylfa on Anglesey and Oldbury in Gloucestershire Following Toshiba's deci- sion to scrap its plans for a three-reactor plant at Moorside, Hitachi's move means that a total of 9.2GW of planned nuclear generation has been cancelled or suspended over the past three months. The chancellor told parlia- ment: "Hitachi retains the site and we hope that the work we are doing on a possible alterna- tive financing model may yet allow the project to go ahead." ENERGY 'Incoherent' policy patchwork blasted Energy policy must be over- hauled to reflect growing consumer involvement in an ever more decentralised energy system, a new report has urged. The Association for Decen- tralised Energy (ADE) said policies are frequently designed without consideration for the consumer perspective, resulting in an "incoherent patchwork" of overlapping, poorly co-ordinated and confusing measures. "Those who try and navigate the system and take energy- related decisions – to invest in energy efficiency, to move to lower carbon heating or renew- able power generation – ožen find a complex puzzle of choices and no overall steer to guide their decision-making," said ADE director Tim Rotheray. ADE's Solving the Energy Puzzle for Users report calls for consumers to be put at the heart of a new policy and regula- tory framework. Aileen Campbell: state supplier still on cards Political Agenda David Blackman "ENW sale puts a focus on foreign ownership" The proposed sale of Electricity North West continues to keep the City's rumour mills turning over. The northwest regional network operator has been put on the block by its owners, US investment bank JP Morgan and Australian institutional investor Colonial First State. Over the past couple of weeks, a variety of suitors have been identified in the press. They include the Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-Shing, already a well-known face in the sector towards foreign ownership was fleshed out in a white paper on foreign takeovers issued by Greg Clark, secretary of state for business. This proposed tougher rules on mergers and acquisitions of key national infrastructure assets. The white paper has yet to be turned into legislation. However, its thinking can expect to be reflected if mainland Chinese entities win the race to land Electricity North West. thanks to his ownership of UK Power Networks, Northern Gas Networks, Wales & West Utilities and Northumbrian Water. More potentially sensitive was a Sun- day Times' story that mainland Chinese grid companies are also interested Not so long ago, the UK government adopted a distinctly laisser faire approach to the issue of Chinese ownership, par- ticularly under David Cameron, but since then Theresa May, who spent five years immersed in security issues as home secretary, has taken a much dim- mer view of states perceived as potentially hostile. The more cautious approach

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