Utility Week

10 | 8TH - 14TH MARCH 2019 | UTILITY WEEK Policy & Regulation This week CMA launches probe into RWE/Eon deal Competition authority has invited interested par- ties to submit comments on the deal by 13 March The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has launched an investigation into the planned asset swap deal between RWE and Eon. The probe will examine whether the transaction will likely lead to a "substantial lessening of competition" in the UK energy market. According to the terms of the deal announced in March 2018, RWE will exchange its 76.8 per cent stake in Innogy for a 16.7 per cent stake in Eon, as well as Eon's renewables portfolio and €1.5 billion in cash. Innogy's renewables division will be returned to RWE. Innogy owns the big six supplier Npower, which at the time was expected to be merged with the retail arm of SSE. However, the merger has since been cancelled, meaning the deal between RWE and Eon would leave Eon holding two of the big six – its own supply business and Npower. Based on the latest figures from Ofgem, they would have a combined market share of 22 per cent for electri city and 18 per cent for gas. The CMA has invited interested parties to submit comments on the deal by 13 March. It is planning to make an initial decision by 24 April. On 25 February, the nonministerial government department published a series of proposals for new powers to better protect consumers. Proposals include treating the interests of consumers as "paramount" and a new statutory requirement of the authority to conduct its investigations quickly. TG WATER Sector helps Defra to prepare for 'no deal' The government has been "working closely" with water companies to prepare for all scenarios of the UK's exit from the European Union, including a "no deal" Brexit. Utility Week understands the water industry is assessing alter native port and customs logistics for vital chemicals should the UK leave the EU on 29 March with no deal in place. Water UK said it has been assessing the "potential impact of Brexit" and is taking the "necessary actions" to minimise disruptions to customers and the water supply. A spokesperson for the Depart ment for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) told UW: "We have been working closely with water companies, chemi cal suppliers, regulators and the devolved administrations on contingency planning, and com panies are well advanced in their preparations to make sure they can meet their statutory respon sibility to maintain services. We are confident that no deal will not have an impact on water supply." ELECTRICITY MPs to study impact of nuclear gap The cancellation of the Wylfa and Moorside nuclear plants has opened up a "giant hole" in UK energy policy, Rachel Reeves MP, chair of the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) Committee, has warned as she announced a wideranging inquiry into the nation's power infrastructure investment needs. The Commons committee will look at whether the government needs a new approach to bring forward the investment required to deliver a lowcarbon, lowcost energy system and secure energy supplies for the long term. The inquiry will examine how the decisions and trends in lowcarbon generation affect the investment outlook for UK energy infrastructure and if a case exists for the government to change its approach to attracting cash into the sector. EMISSIONS UK planning carbon price link to EU ETS The UK could sustain its own carbon emissions trading system but is pressing ahead with plans to link into the EU's existing scheme postBrexit, Claire Perry has told peers. The energy and clean growth minister, under cross examination on 27 February by the House of Lords Energy and Environment Committee, said the government is preparing to consult on establishing a linked scheme with the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS). CMA: will examine 'lessening of competition' Political Agenda David Blackman "The defiance of Clark and co will have riled Brexiteers" There is a pause this week in the formal business of Brexit. But things swing back into action next week when the House of Commons will be given another opportunity to endorse Theresa May's proposed withdrawal deal. If the deal goes through, par liament will have the chance to focus more on other issues, such as the energy white paper that was promised in November by business secretary of state Greg Clark with the ringing claim that the energy "trilemma" is dead. The PM gave ground by saying she would give MPs the opportu nity for a vote on extending the UK's withdrawal if she cannot secure backing for her deal. However, the public display of defiance will not have gone unnoticed by May, who has a reputation for holding grudges. The defiance of Clark and co will have riled Brexiteers and May loyalists alike, increasing the odds that their heads could be demanded as part of a wider and overdue Cabinet reshuffle. Richard Harrington, a mem ber of Clark's ministerial team, revealed a couple of weeks ago that the paper is due to be pub lished in the "early summer". The need to get on with this long overdue policy shakeup has only increased following the suspension of Hitachi's nuclear newbuild plans in the UK. But whether Clark and his team will still be in post by then must be a moot point. Clark as well as Harrington and energy minister Claire Perry were among the six ministers who publicly defied May's refusal to rule out a Brexit "no deal" by saying they would resign rather than allow this to happen.

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