Where is all the money going?

UK’s Prime Minister, David Cameron, is determined to cut the green taxes that end up on energy bills because there is a growing backlash to the large increases announced by many of the major energy companies. According to the Guardian the total is £114 (€135), government figures show that £50 (€59) goes on the energy … Continue reading Where is all the money going? →

New academic paper – “The Green Deal and the Energy Company Obligation”

Jan Rosenow, Senior Consultant at Ricardo-AEA, and Nick Eyre, Environmental Change Institute at Oxford University, put together the first comprehensive academic peer-reviewed paper on the British Green Deal published in the journal ‘Energy’ of the Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers. The Green Deal, introduced alongside the Energy Company Obligation, marks a substantial change … Continue reading New academic paper – “The Green Deal and the Energy Company Obligation” →

Number of the week – 2

The Council of European Energy Regulators has just published its status report “Status Review of Regulatory Aspects of Smart Metering, Including an assessment of roll-out as of 1 January 2013.” [add pdf] The report states that only 2 countries have completed the roll out of smart meters for electricity – Sweden and Italy.

New paper: fuel poverty and energy efficiency obligations – a critical view

Jan Rosenow, a Senior Consultant in Energy and Climate Policy at Ricardo-AEA, a global consulting firm, has teamed up with Reg Platt (Institute for Public Policy Research) and Brooke Flanagan (Future Climate) and produced a paper critically examining the tensions created by using energy efficiency obligations for fuel poverty alleviation. While the energy efficiency obligations … Continue reading New paper: fuel poverty and energy efficiency obligations – a critical view →

Renewable energy’s impact on transmission and distribution

The editors of Electric Light & Power provide an excellent assessment of the impact of renewable energy on Europe’s transmission system. It also stresses the importance of trans-border interconnections. Demand for renewable energy will drive Europe transmission market A rising demand for electricity and growing environmental concerns across Europe is leading countries to look for … Continue reading Renewable energy’s impact on transmission and distribution →

Utilities are starting to wince

Diane Cardwell provides an excellent article in the New York Times about how electric utilities are starting to be concerned about the growing number of solar panels and what it means for their business. It will be important to watch how this evolves and whether this same backlash will come to Europe. On Rooftops, a … Continue reading Utilities are starting to wince →

UK energy company disputes government estimates

Mat Hope provides an excellent article on the Carbon Brief website of the energy company, Npower, disputing the estimates for the increase of gas and electricity bills in 2020. This is an important topic as energy companies throughout Europe are expected to play an ever increasing role in promoting energy efficiency. And, daily one is … Continue reading UK energy company disputes government estimates →

Unstoppable efficiency drive spurred by EU regulations and national targets poses a dilemma for utilities

Geert De Clercq and Vera Eckert write for Reuter’s news service and published by The Guardian ask an important question about whether energy utilities look for a profitable way to help consumers save energy or whether they try to defend their traditional business model. The jury is still out but some utilities have understood it … Continue reading Unstoppable efficiency drive spurred by EU regulations and national targets poses a dilemma for utilities →

Energy companies in the UK facing difficulties promoting energy efficiency

Mat Hope wrote for Carbon Brief about some of the difficulties that energy supply companies are having to meet their obligations. The costs to consumers could be higher than initially estimated. This has important lessons for all of Europe as they start to develop and implement their own obligation schemes. This blog follows an article … Continue reading Energy companies in the UK facing difficulties promoting energy efficiency →

Results from energy efficiency obligations in UK under the microscope

Lisa Bachelor wrote in The Guardian about the concerns of Britain’s energy regulator that many of the obligated energy companies have not met their reduction targets. Britain has been one of the leaders in Europe in energy company obligations and it will be important to know what is going on and how can it get … Continue reading Results from energy efficiency obligations in UK under the microscope →