Utility Week

6 | JULY 2021 | UTILITY WEEK The Month in Review Energy retail regulation 'no longer fit for purpose' T he energy supply licence regime is "no longer fit for purpose" and the regula- tion of energy retailers should be based on their activities, a heavy weight group of Conserva- tive MPs has urged in a report commissioned by Boris Johnson. The recommendation is contained in an independent report from the Taskforce on Innovation, Growth and Regula- tory Reform, which is composed of ex-Conservative leader Iain Duncan-Smith, former environ- ment secretary of state Theresa Villiers and ex-transport minister George Freeman. The three were asked by the prime minister earlier this year to examine how the UK regula- tory regime could be reformed to take advantage of withdrawal from the EU. The taskforce recommends that the government and Ofgem should modernise their approach to energy retail regula- tion and address regulatory gaps created by the emergence of new types of company, such as Smith, Villiers and Freeman: the three-man taskforce asked by the PM to look at regulation Ecotricity sells remaining Electric Highway stake to Gridserve Gridserve has bought the remaining stake in Ecotric- ity's Electric Highway less than three months a‹er purchasing a minority stake in the business. The electric vehicle (EV) net- work was established in 2011 by the green energy supplier and it was revealed in March this year that Gridserve was to invest in the company and upgrade its charging infrastructure. Utility Week asked Ecotricity founder Dale Vince why the full sale followed on so quickly. He said: "They were just very keen to get on with it. They have got a lot of commitment and vision, it made them the perfect partner for us. They've got the appetite for it which is great. "We're not disappearing from the scene, we're going to work with them for at least the next six months in the transi- tion, replacing the old hard- ware of our network with the new, high-powered upgrades. "For me, more than any- thing else, it is the chance to pass the baton on to somebody else and see the Highway go on and continue to play a leading role in electrification." Ecotricity said the deal would enable it to pursue other interests such as a green gas mill, which creates natural gas from grass. comparison websites and auto- switching services. Regulation of energy retailers should be based on the activities their business is engaged in rather than whether they hold a licence, it said. Regulation should focus on future opportunities rather than maintaining market stability, said the report. The government should implement changes to the energy retail market regulatory framework to better support innovative tariffs and pricing mechanisms, including an assessment of whether there is a need for "radical rather than incremental" change. This should include a review of whether the current supply licence framework strikes an effective balance between inno- vation and consumer protection. Unless policy and regulation are reformed, "unprecedented" reinforcements to the electricity network will not be delivered in time to achieve the government's ambition to roll out 40GW of offshore wind by 2030. David Blackman, policy correspondent Britain on track for first periods of zero-carbon power in 2025 Great Britain's power grid is on track to see its first periods of zero- carbon electricity in just four years' time, National Grid Electricity Sys- tem Operator (ESO) has confirmed. The ESO had already announced its ambition to make the electric- ity system ready for zero-carbon operation by 2025 when it became a legally separate entity within the National Grid group in April 2019. "We're confident that by 2025 we will have periods of 100 per cent zero carbon electricity, with no fossil fuels used to generate power in Great Britain," said ESO executive director Fintan Slye. "As with coal-free operation of the grid these may be short periods at first but will still be a significant milestone on the road to net zero, and these periods will quickly extend." In a new report highlight- ing Great Britain's progress in decarbonising its electricity system ahead of the COP26 climate summit in November, the ESO noted a num- ber of recent records: the first year in which zero-carbon generation outstripped fossil fuel generation (2019); the highest ever share of zero-carbon power (85.1 per cent on 17 August 2019); the highest ever level of zero carbon output (28.8GW on 12 February 2020); and the lowest ever carbon intensity of the power grid (39gCO2/kWh on 5 April 2021). The ESO said it considered wind, solar, nuclear and hydro generation to all be sources of zero-carbon power but not biomass. "Adaptation remains the Cinderella of climate change, still sitting in rags by the stove: under-resourced, underfunded and often ignored." Baroness Brown, chair of the adaptation committee, Climate Change Committee

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