Victims of forced prepayment meter installation to receive £18.6m May 28, 2025 Tens of thousands of Brits are set to receive compensation after being forced to install prepayment devices in their homes. Eight energy suppliers will be writing off debts or providing compensation – valued at a total of £18.6m – to at least 40,000 consumers. This follows a review by Ofgem, the national energy regulator, which [...]
‘Extraordinary denial of reality’: Ricardo shareholder pens open letter amid vote to oust chair May 28, 2025 One of the largest shareholders in transport and energy consultancy Ricardo has blasted the firm’s “blinkered perspective” and “extraordinary denial of reality” ahead of a vote to oust its chair. Science Group, which controls around a fifth of the share capital of the London-listed business, earlier this month called for a general meeting of shareholders [...]
Offshore wind: Banks hesitant to support developments May 28, 2025 Banks are proving hesitant to finance offshore wind projects due to concerns surrounding the use of Chinese equipment, according to a new report. Security concerns, a lack of precedent and doubts that China-based equipment manufacturers can provide sufficient guarantees around performance have led would-be financiers to sit on their hands before plugging in cash, energy [...]
Up to 4,000 livelihoods at risk as ABF prepares to pull plug on bioethanol plant May 27, 2025 As many as 4,000 livelihoods are at risk after the owner of Britain’s largest bioethanol plant has warned it could shut within days, citing UK-US tariff policy. ABF, which owns the Vivergo Fuels plant in Yorkshire, has written to farmers warning it planned to suspend purchases of wheat used in the production process unless the [...]
North Sea windfall tax causing ‘irreversible damage’ says oil giant May 27, 2025 The boss of Enquest has slammed the windfall tax on oil and gas firms as doing “irreversible damage” to the industry and “driving job losses across the sector”. Amjad Bseisu, Enquest’s chief executive, called for the North Sea tax to be scrapped in an operations update on Tuesday after claiming it makes the UK a [...]
Trump condemns UK net zero push May 23, 2025 Donald Trump has publicly criticised the UK’s net zero policy, saying it is disincentivising oil drilling and needlessly inflating energy prices. In an unusual intervention, the US President said that the UK’s North Sea reserves still had “a century of drilling left”, which if tapped would help bring costs down, “and fast”. “I strongly recommend [...]
Rio Tinto: Chief executive of FTSE 100 giant to step down May 22, 2025 Rio Tinto’s chief executive Jakob Stausholm will step down after more than four years leading the FTSE 100 mining giant, it has been announced. The London-listed firm said a “rigorous selection process” had already begun, with Stausholm remaining in the top job until a successor is found. No reason for the exit has been given. [...]
SSE cuts investment and warns it won’t meet 2030 net zero goal May 21, 2025 SSE, one of the UK’s biggest energy companies has said it is unlikely to meet its 2030 renewable goal in the latest blow to the government’s net zero plans. SSE said it decided to cut capital investment by as much as £3bn over the next five years, citing macroeconomic uncertainty and planning obstacles. The Perth-based [...]
Smiths Group: Shares jumps as demerger on track May 20, 2025 British engineering firm Smiths Group posted a boost to revenue in the third quarter as it progressed on demerger plans. The group’s revenue jumped 10.6 per cent on the back of “strong performance and momentum in the order book”. Shares in the group rose over two per cent to 2,100p during early trading on Tuesday. [...]
Centrica: Major gas facility to shut without government help May 18, 2025 The boss of Centrica – which owns British Gas – has warned the UK’s largest natural gas storage facility will be “decommissioned” unless the government steps in. Speaking on BBC Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, company boss Chris O’Shea called for the government to underwrite the business’ investments in the Rough facility near the East Yorkshire [...]