Chancellor Rachel Reeves delivered Labour’s first Budget in 14 years, announcing £40bn of tax rises, Central London Alliance comments
Ofgem terminates energy competition probe after PayPoint agrees to cough up £12.5m November 23, 2021 Energy regulator Ofgem has formally accepted commitments from PayPoint to change its ways following an investigation into whether the firm breached competition laws. PayPoint will also hand over £12.5m to the regulator and remove exclusivity clauses from its contracts with energy suppliers for pre-pay customers, who top up their meters using the company’s services. The [...]
Exclusive: En+ chairman and former minister Lord Barker warns ‘don’t expect a big bang’ from COP26 November 14, 2021 Many eyes were on Lord Gregory Barker of Battle earlier this week, as ‘his’ global energy giant En+ was at the heart of COP26’s complex ecosystem of executives, government reps, lobbyists, NGOs and activists in Glasgow. Lord Barker was appointed independent chairman of the En+ Group board of directors in October 2017, just before the company’s [...]
Energy trust IPO raises £186.5m for Tesla powered battery plan November 5, 2021 Harmony Energy Income Trust has raised £186.5m through an initial public offering (IPO) to develop large-scale battery energy storage systems across the UK. The systems will be powered by Tesla technology. It has issued 210 million ordinary shares at a price of £1 each, alongside 23.5 million ordinary shares for the acquisition of its seed [...]
Climate change tech: What heat pumps could do for your home, and your wallet October 29, 2021 As the energy crisis rages on amid rising gas prices, UK householders are facing a change in the way we heat our homes to tackle climate change. Here are some answers to the key questions about one of the main technologies we could use instead of gas boilers. First, what is a heat pump? In [...]
Putin could miss COP26 climate conference October 17, 2021 Vladimir Putin has not decided whether to attend the upcoming COP26 climate conference in Glasgow later this month. Russian ambassador to the UK, Andrei Kelin, told Andrew Marr that a decision on the president’s trip has “not been taken yet”. This follows Wednesday’s comments from the Russian premier that he might avoid the conference due [...]
Octopus Energy and RES commit £3 billion to build new UK hydrogen plants October 14, 2021 Octopus Energy and RES will invest £3 billion in the construction of new hydrogen plants across the country by 2030. The aim is to help the UK become more energy independent. The new plants will maximise electrons when they are generated in abundance on sunny and windy days by storing them as green hydrogen. In [...]
Clean energy investment crucial for reducing market volatility, says oil body October 13, 2021 Global volatility in the energy market and further price rises will continue without a major boost in clean energy investment, warns the International Energy Agency. Executive director Fatih Birol believes the transition to net-zero carbon emissions will remain unstable, unless future energy needs can be financed. As economies shift from fossil fuels and less sustainable [...]
Get ready for higher bills as energy costs are forecast to climb by 30 per cent October 7, 2021 Analysts warned this morning that millions of Brits will face energy bill hikes of around 30 per cent. Research agency Cornwall Insight has predicted further volatile gas prices and the potential collapse of even more suppliers could push the energy price cap to about £1,660 in summer. The forecast is approximately 30% higher than the [...]
Record high: Energy bills for 15m UK households to increase by at least £139 October 1, 2021 As suppliers grapple with soaring wholesale prices, energy bills for around 15m UK households will increase by at least £139 to a record high from today under Ofgem’s latest price cap. The regulator decided in August that energy customers on default tariffs paying by direct debit will see the sharpest jump in prices since the [...]
COP26: Standardising climate reporting could slash pension scheme cash burden September 30, 2021 Standardising climate-related reporting could “considerably” slash the cash burden for pension schemes, the Work and Pensions Committee has said. Calling on the UK to up its leadership on fossil fuel-investing pension funds ahead of COP26, the Committee has urged the Government to encourage other countries to make their local pension schemes disclose their climate-related financial [...]