Don’t just blame energy giants: Government is blunting competition March 27, 2014 IT IS not entirely unwelcome that the energy industry has been referred to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) by Ofgem. It may lance a festering boil; it may do some good. However, this will only be the case if the investigation is handled correctly. Too often, competition inquiries have created huge uncertainty and disruption. [...]
Scottish independence could impact results says Centrica March 27, 2014 Energy giant Centrica has warned of the consequences of a yes vote in Scotland's independence referendum as well as political interference in the energy market. The company made the comments in its annual financial report for the year to 20 February 2014. In the event that Scotland became independent parts of Centrica's upstream assets would [...]
Ofgem confirms companies are avoiding UK energy market due to political concerns March 27, 2014 A number of companies have chosen not to enter the UK retail energy market due to the current political environment, Ofgem confirmed today. As part of its long-awaited assessment of energy market competition, the regulator spoke to various firms who had chosen not to tap into the sector. “A consistent reason for not entering was [...]
What you need to know before the open March 27, 2014 A lower open’s expected for European markets this morning, following the slightly surprising selloff seen in US markets yesterday. It’s unclear quite how the selloff came about, but President Obama’s criticisms of Russia’s actions in Crimea probably didn’t help. Meanwhile, weak underlying durable goods numbers yesterday point to still-listless demand on the US consumer front. [...]
Ofgem confirms full energy market investigation March 27, 2014 British households may be paying too much for energy, according to regulator Ofgem. The energy sector has been referred to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). The investigation could take between 18 and 24 months. Ofgem proposed that the CMA investigate the market to consider "once and for all" whether there are barriers to effective [...]
Politicians clamour to take credit for SSE price freeze March 26, 2014 POLITICIANS yesterday rushed to take credit for SSE’s pledge to freeze energy prices until 2016, despite the big six supplier combining the move with plans to slash its renewables investment and axe jobs. Prime minister David Cameron said the government’s decision to roll back some green levies from customers’ bills was responsible for the decision. [...]
Price controls don’t work. It’s time to empower consumers March 26, 2014 CONSUMERS and politicians should draw very careful lessons from the news that SSE, the energy giant, is freezing its prices. This is hardly the victory that some on the left believe it to be. Ed Miliband’s attack on the energy industry last September came at a time of elevated wholesale costs in the energy markets. [...]
SSE announces price freeze until 2016 March 26, 2014 One of the Big Six energy companies, SSE, has announced that it’s freezing domestic gas and electricity prices at their current levels until January 2016. It's also splitting its retail and wholesale businesses to "improve transparency". SSE says profits will be lower because of the freeze, but it intends to streamline and simplify its business [...]
The green myth: Why renewables destroy jobs March 25, 2014 POLITICIANS and activists are celebrating the news that Siemens is prepared to invest £160m in facilities in and around Hull to produce and install offshore wind turbines. It sounds like good news: 1,000 new jobs. But our embrace of renewable energy will cost jobs overall, not create them. The UK is putting eye-watering amounts of [...]
Energy customers who don’t switch are getting charged more March 25, 2014 Looks like energy firms are set for another bashing. New research by think tank IPPR shows that customers who haven’t switched energy suppliers are getting charged substantially more. The analysis, which comes ahead of the regulators’ decision on competition in the energy market later this week, shows that electricity bills in 2013 for customers [...]