Utility Week

4 | 4TH - 10TH OCTOBER 2019 | UTILITY WEEK Seven days... Ofgem to step in amid energy chaos The energy regulator could get powers to veto the sales of energy companies to address the turmoil in the market. Fourteen household gas and electricity suppliers have collapsed since January last year, with up to nine more predicted to fold this winter. The watchdog is concerned that stronger rivals could cherry-pick profitable customers from failing companies, leaving the industry safety net to pick up the bill for those in debt, or that customers might be sold to companies where they are then switched to more expensive deals. The Sunday Times Scrap Hinkley Point C, says Ovo Energy chief Britain's next nuclear power plant should be scrapped because it is expensive and out of date, accord- ing to the boss of Ovo Energy. The industry should instead look to the future with ever-cheaper renewable energy, said Stephen Fitzpatrick, the founder and chief executive of the group that will soon be the UK's second-biggest supplier as Ovo acquires SSE's consumer business. "We should just call it a day," he said. [see story, facing page] The Daily Telegraph Green gas buyers face bigger bills The cost of green gas certificates has shot up amid demand from companies keen to display their environmental credentials. Industry sources say the price of Renewable Gas Guarantees of Origin (RGGOs) has gone from a few pounds to £9 each in recent months, which pushes up bills if the costs are passed on to consumers. The certificates are issued each kilowatt-hour produced to verify the source of the gas. The Sunday Times In the media Leadsom brands Labour emission target 'total tosh' L abour's new policy to cut emissions to net zero by 2030 has been slammed as "total tosh" by the secretary of state for business and energy. Andrea Leadsom used her keynote speech on Monday at the Conservative party's annual conference in Manchester to attack the Green New Deal policy approved by the Labour party at its annual gathering in Brighton last week. She said the government is "working out the path to achiev- ing net zero emissions by 2050. "Contrast that to Labour who last week announced net zero by 2030! Total tosh." But the energy secretary, who had a spell as energy minister in David Cameron's government, supplied no further details on achieving net zero in her speech. Leadsom's speech followed comments by pensions minister Guy Opperman (pictured) that the Conservatives are the right party to implement the net zero pathway because capitalism is the best way to deliver it. While radical groups such as Extinction Rebellion argue that capitalism and economic growth must be curbed in order to halt climate change, he told a fringe meeting organised by the Local Authority Pension Fund Forum at the Tory conference on Sunday night that capitalism will solve the problem. He said there would be "no positive outcome" to the issue through "state control" and people telling others they know better. "You have to use capitalism to solve the problem, which means the Conservative party is uniquely placed to solve this," he said, pointing to the new rules on pension fund invest- ment that were due to come into effect on Tuesday. The new rules on environ- mental, social and governance (ESG) mean pension fund trus- tees will have to take account of climate change when making investment decisions. "If you are the pension min- ister you encourage people to think about the long term above all else, but if we don't solve climate change there won't be a long term," Opperman said. "Net zero really forces us to go for both. We haven't really got that much choice. We've got to use all of the tools in our arsenal" Hydrogen networks should be supplied using electrolysis powered via renewables, according to Anthony Green, head of engineering and asset management, National Grid Gas Transmission. STORY BY NUMBERS Number of people switching hits all-time high A record number of energy customers switched between small and mid- tier suppliers in August, the latest figures from Energy UK show. 500k 564,814 switches took place in August. 15% increase in switching over the same period last year. 162k There was a record figure for switches between smaller suppliers, at 162,043, which was 29 per cent of total switches. 4m The number of people who have switched so far this year (up 11 per cent on last year).

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