Utility Week - authoritative, impartial and essential reading for senior people within utilities, regulators and government
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4 | 7th - 13th March 2014 | UtILItY WEEK National media Energy use Latest govern- ment statistics reveal how domestic energy use in the UK changed between 2002 and 2012. (all numbers in 2012 prices). 55% average increase in household spending on energy 17% average decrease in domestic energy demand £106 average monthly energy bill £16 Monthly increase in electricity bills £20 Monthly increase in gas bills £63 Increase in monthly bills for other fuels, inc. coal, oil, and wood EU climate change effort intact after crash The financial crisis and recession across Europe have not put people off fighting climate change, a new poll for the European Commission has shown. It found the number of people supporting a "green economy" had risen in the past three years. At least two-thirds of people in the EU thought that reducing emissions and investing in green technologies would boost the economy and jobs. The Guardian Floods in Europe 'will double by 2050' The frequency of severe flooding across Europe is set to double by 2050, and over the same period there could be a nearly fivefold increase in the annual economic losses resulting from floods, a Dutch study has found. The Independent Russia – the weakness of petropower The one thing that Ukraine's politi- cal crisis of the past few weeks has made clear is the weakness of Russia. President Vladimir Putin likes to present his country as a reviving world power but in reality it is trapped by its own dependence on oil and gas. Nick Butler, the Financial Times story by NUMbErs T he deployment of renewa- bles could be slashed by up to a fih if the govern- ment cuts the carbon tax with- out raising the total amount of subsidy available, industry sources have warned. Analysts said the wholesale power price in 2020 would be £5 to £6/MWh lower with a freeze, compared with original projec- tions. Under the incoming sub- sidy regime, this would make each contract for difference more expensive to finance, so the sup- port budget would be used up on fewer projects. Scrapping the carbon floor price altogether would mean that the amount of renewable capacity supported under the contracts for difference regime would have to be reduced by 20 per cent, according to one devel- oper's estimate. Freezing it at the 2015/16 level of £18 a tonne to 2020, instead of raising it steeply as planned, would have about half that impact. The Treasury is understood to be planning to freeze or slow the rise of the carbon floor price in the Budget on 19 March. That will please business lobbyists, who have complained it pushes up energy costs and makes them uncompetitive. However, a U-turn would damage investor confidence as well as having a direct financial impact, said Gordon Edge, direc- tor of policy at Renewable UK. "Having gone down this route, to turn round and freeze [the tax] at the first sign of trouble doesn't bode well." Meanwhile, existing renew- able and nuclear generators will get lower returns. A typi- cal 20MW windfarm will take £300,000 hit in 2020, or 5 per cent of annual revenues, accord- ing to RBC Capital Markets ana- lyst John Musk. MD Seven days... "The demand is going up, water availability is going down and our climate is changing" Thames Water director Richard Aylard predicts that London will face a drought Renewables will suffer if carbon price is scrapped the amount available from an alliance between the Green Investment Bank and Societe Generale Equipment Finance for energy efficiency projects Number of water meters installed by South East Water as part of its compulsory metering programme since 2011. £50m 100,000