Utility Week

UTILITY WEEK | FEBRUARY 2021 | 15 Policy & Regulation Policy calendar for 2021 The Energy White Paper was certainly a long time coming but proved to be frus- tratingly short on detail about the con- crete steps required to speed up the UK's transition to the net zero emissions. Instead, these will be fleshed out in a plethora of consultations and policy papers, culminating in November when the UK is due to host the delayed COP26 climate summit in Glasgow. If the white paper is to be believed, 2021 will be a period of intense activity on the energy policy front. Utility Week has combed through the white paper to find out what the sector can expect and when. Early 2021 • Consultation on reforms to provide consumers with more "transparent and accurate" information on carbon content when choosing energy tariffs. • Publication of updated Fuel Poverty Strategy for England. • Consultation on new regulations to phase out fossil fuels in off-grid homes, businesses and public buildings. • Consultation on policy to help develop the UK's heat pump market. • Publication of dedicated Hydrogen Strategy. • Consultation on energy performance- based rating scheme for large commercial and industrial buildings with a view to launching first phase by 2022/23. March 2021 • Consultation on creating the framework to introduce opt-in switching by customers. April 2021 • Call for evidence to kickstart a "strategic dialogue" between government, consumers and industry on energy affordability and fairness. Spring 2021 • Publication of the UK's first Energy Data Strategy in partnership with Ofgem, building on the vision set out by the independent Energy Data Taskforce, chaired by Laura Sandys • Consultation on regulating third parties such as energy brokers and price comparison websites • Publication of new Smart Systems Plan, jointly with Ofgem, including a new framework for monitoring flexibility across electricity markets. Legislation to define electricity storage in law to be published "when Parliamentary time allows". • Launch of the first energy storage and flexibility innovation competition, focusing on long duration storage technologies that can be deployed at large scale and provide "novel services or system benefits". • Consultation on integration of local heat network zoning with wider local area planning for environment and infrastructure. Summer 2021 • Preliminary Biomass for Net Zero strategy position paper, following a review of call for evidence, to be issued "shortly". Autumn 2021 • Launch of Green Gas Support Scheme (GGSS), which will run for four years and support continued deployment of anaerobic digestion biomethane plants. Government will publish its response to consultation on the green gas levy design in early 2021. Late 2021 • Next contracts for difference (CfD) auction, which has been reopened to onshore wind and solar photovoltaics projects. Also in 2021 • Government to bring forward details of a revenue mechanism to stimulate private sector investment in industrial carbon capture and hydrogen projects. • Opening up of Generic Design Assessment for regulating proposed nuclear power plant designs to small modular reactor (SMR) technologies. • Delivery plan for 2030 phase out of new diesel and petrol, including key milestones. • Regulations to mandate smart private electric vehicle chargepoints. • Consultation on options to improve energy performance of homes. • Setting of sixth Carbon Budget, outlining national emissions reduction targets for 2028 to 2032. • Consultation on hydrogen-ready appliances. • Review and update of energy National Policy Statement. • Launch of Green Jobs Taskforce and National Skills Fund. the government concluded a joint consulta- tion with Ofgem on energy retail markets in the dying days of Clark's time at BEIS. This prompted suspicion in some quar- ters that this aspect of the white paper was tailored to address the bread and but- ter concerns of the Tories' new "Red Wall" constituencies. A former big six director muses that the retail chapter looks like a last-minute politi- cal addition rather than something devel- oped over time along with the rest of the thinking in the paper. The former director expresses concern that the white paper's proposals on auto- switching feel out of kilter with the net zero thrust outlined in the rest of the document. While much of the paper sets out an encouragingly nuanced understanding in the BEIS department about the complex challenges involved in whole-system decar- bonisation, the auto-switch proposals betray some "very old-school thinking". "They imply that the below cost prices in the market are the right prices," they say, adding that it is "outrageous" companies may be forced to open up their customer books. And industry sources complain privately that there was no engagement by govern- ment on the white paper's retail chapter in the run-up to the paper's publication. An energy company source expresses concern that the way the proposals are couched in the white paper is tone deaf to the predicament that the industry finds itself in post-pandemic. "The retail energy sector is in very chal- lenging times: we are responding to Covid, supporting customers with rising debts. Talking the retail sector down and raking up old arguments is not helpful." Industry concerns were not assuaged by the Treasury's interim net zero review, which emerged on the day parliament broke up before Christmas. While the paper was heavy on analysis about the distribution of costs, again it le¥ a lot of questions "unanswered" about how these knotty problems of reallocation are going to be addressed, says the energy com- pany source. And many measures for delivering the white paper's goals, like promoting compe- tition on the onshore grid and retail market reform, will require legislation, says Buck- land: "The acid test is whether this can com- mence in the next six months." A¥er a long time waiting for a steer from Whitehall, it looks like 2021 will be pretty busy for the industry on the policy front. David Blackman, policy correspondent

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