Utility Week

20 | 14TH - 20TH FEBRUARY 2020 | UTILITY WEEK Finance & Investment Lower wholesale costs have prompted a £17 reduction in both the default and prepay- ment meter (PPM) caps, Ofgem announced on 7 February. This means that from April the default cap, which covers 11 million households, will stand at £1,162, while the PPM cap, which covers a further four mil- lion households, will be £1,200. Ofgem said a decrease in ENERGY Reduction in wholesale costs sees default and PPM price caps fall wholesale energy costs between August 2019 and January 2020 played a large part in the reduction of the caps. The energy regulator added that a strong supply of gas, such as record amounts of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and healthy gas stock inventories, has been the main factor pushing down wholesale prices. As a result, the wholesale energy cost element of the default tariff cap fell from £446 to £408. Despite a reduction in whole- sale costs, there were increases in other elements such as oper- ating costs, network charges, smart meter costs and environ- mental schemes. The increases came to a total of £22. The default price cap was introduced on 1 January 2019 Energy UK: use taxes to pay for efficiency Idea is among 14 steps the trade body says the government could take in the Energy White Paper A trade body has proposed general taxation is used to fund a national energy efficiency programme. Energy UK wants the govern- ment to focus the project par- ticularly on those stuck in fuel poverty and on ensuring vulner- able customers are protected. The suggestion is among 14 steps Energy UK says the government could take in the upcoming Budget and its long-awaited Energy White Paper. They include investing in large-scale, low-carbon heating trials – covering both green gas and electrifica- tion; as well as introducing incentives for the develop- ment of large-scale energy storage, in a bid to increase flexibility across the energy system. There are also calls for "urgent clarity" on the UK's carbon pricing mecha- nism post-Brexit, with the suggestion that a UK Emis- sions Trading System (ETS) is established to align with the existing EU ETS. One of the steps was taken almost as soon as the list was published, with the government agreeing that the ban on selling petrol and diesel cars should come forward to 2035. Responding to that announcement, Energy UK's interim chief executive, Audrey Gallacher, said: "The UK power sector has been world-leading in reducing emissions and we stand ready to work together to help transform other sectors, like transport and heating, as well as our own. "And we look forward to the forthcoming Energy White Paper and Budget where we hope to see measures that will allow the necessary innovation and investment to flow – and ensure that as a country we go further and faster towards net zero." JW ELECTRICITY DNOs publish asset registers to improve visibility of capacity Registers listing the generation, storage and demand-side response assets connected to their networks have been pub- lished by all six of the distribu- tion network operators (DNOs) in Great Britain. The information will help interested parties to identify opportunities and constraints on local electricity networks and give National Grid Electricity System Operator a clearer pic- ture of the amount of generation capacity on the power grid. The System Wide Resource Registers have been created as part of the Energy Networks Association's (ENA) Open Networks project. They cover all assets of at least 1MW that are either connected already or have an agreement in place. More than 5,000 are currently listed. The data, which includes asset types, locations and capacities, will be updated monthly. Information on the net- work reinforcements required to accommodate new connections will be added later this year. "The publication of the System Wide Resource Registers will make connecting to the net- works easier across the country, highlighting new opportuni- ties for clean energy projects, delivering value for the public and securing our energy into the future," said ENA chief executive David Smith. • Northern Powergrid has launched an online tool called AutoDesign to help identify the best spots to install electric vehicle charging stations. ENERGY Ofgem minded to allow SSE to claim £711k in SoLR costs Ofgem has announced it is minded to allow SSE to claim a last resort supply payment of up to £711,000 for costs incurred when it took on the customers of failed supplier Brilliant Energy. SSE, which was recently acquired by Ovo Energy, took on the 17,000 customers of Brilliant and white label Northumbria Energy as supplier of last resort (SoLR) in March 2019. The regulator said on 6 Feb- ruary that the supplier made an £825,000 claim last August for the cost of credit balances and other SoLR costs incurred, such as for IT and administration. SSE's claim included £114,000 for costs in relation to "blocked" customers who switched to an alternative sup- plier before the company could bill them. Ofgem says its initial view is that this risk should have been priced into its bid. The company has also contrib- uted £651,000 to offset the claim. Ovo and SSE are still consti- tuted as two separate companies and the payment will still go to SSE if given final approval. Ofgem's preliminary decision is now up for consultation; a final decision is expected in March. Gallacher: 'we stand ready to work together' and the law states it will remain in place until 2023. It is subject to a review from 2020 onwards, with the first scheduled for this summer. As part of the review, Ofgem will make a recommendation to the secretary of state as to whether market conditions exist for the cap to be li©ed or be extended past 2020. The PPM cap is expected to end this year. This week

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