Energy Crisis
| Use attributes for filter ! | |
| Google books | books.google.com |
|---|---|
| Originally published | 2005 |
| Authors | Ewan McLeish |
| Date of Reg. | |
| Date of Upd. | |
| ID | 2940450 |
About Energy Crisis
Emerging challenges of the 21st Century such as the need to find alternative energies are explored in a balanced, international, and provocative way with a good combination of in-depth facts, statistics and real world consequences.
Cause of eerie pink glow over Howden revealed by local business
... So why are people only seeing the pink lights now? Mr Denham said: " Because of the Energy Crisis we had to invest heavily in LED lights...
Campaigners call for more energy support for vulnerable households
... " Separately, Philippe Commaret, managing director for customers at EDF, has pledged to ensure that some 250,000 of the company s customer households who are struggling with high costs see their standing charges - the fixed daily amount you have to pay for energy, no matter how much you use - fall to where they were before the Energy Crisis...
Blackouts less likely this winter says National Grid
... Chances of the lights going out were almost back to where they were before the Energy Crisis, it said...
Energy firms warned against paying dividends
... Regulator Ofgem said firms " must learn the lessons of the Energy Crisis" adding " a return to the practices we saw before isn t on the table"...
Energy bills fall as new price cap comes into force
... And while bills remain higher than before the Energy Crisis, it is great news that people will see them drop...
Crisis-hit Pakistan strikes $3bn IMF bailout deal
... Pakistan s economy, which was already struggling after years of financial mismanagement, has been pushed to the brink by a global Energy Crisis and devastating floods that hit the country last year...
Warning energy bills to stay high for foreseeable future
... Centrica chief executive Chris O Shea said while he believes the worst of the Energy Crisis is over, risks remain...
When will we start seeing energy bill deals again?
... That is £426 a year less than what they pay now, although still far higher than what we saw before the Energy Crisis...
Warning energy bills to stay high for foreseeable future
By Simon JackBusiness editor
Energy bills are likely to stay high for the foreseeable future, according to The Boss of The Company that owns British Gas .
Centrica chief executive Chris O 'Shea said while he believes the worst of the Energy Crisis is over, risks remain.
A new price cap comes into effect this weekend which will see households with typical energy usage pay £2,074.
Mr O'Shea said prices have fallen from The Rise caused by The Russian war, but are higher than the long-term average.
" I think The First act of The Crisis is over, " He Said . " I think what we've got to remember is the energy prices had More Than doubled before Russia invaded Ukraine.
" Now, prices are back down to pre-invasion levels but they're still two and a half times the Long Run average. "
Gas and Electricity bills will fall below the £2,500 level that was subsidised by the government under its Energy Price Guarantee scheme.
However, under the new price cap, which is set by the regulator Ofgem, households bills will remain £800 more expensive that two years ago.
Meanwhile, Cornwall Insight, a consultancy firm, estimates that changes in The Price cap - which limits what companies can charge per unit of gas and Electricity - will take energy bills for a typical consumer to £1,871 per year from October.
That is then forecast to rise to £1,900 from January.
Mr O'Shea was speaking to The Bbc as Centrica announced it was doubling the amount of gas stored in its Rough storage facility off the coast of Yorkshire ahead of this winter.
Despite The Extra storage, He Said there was a danger that the UK risked being complacent about the resilience of the country's energy supplies which were still vulnerable to external shocks.
" I think that there's a danger that we get complacent because Last Winter was okay and because prices are quite stable now, " He Said .
" But when we had trouble between the Wagner group and The Russian military last week we saw energy prices go up by about 20%. Chinese economic activity at The Moment is relatively low. If that starts to Pick Up we'll see more demand for gas in the form of LNG [Liquified Natural Gas], then we'll see European gas prices go up So There could be more volatility to come. "
The UK has some of the lowest gas storage levels in Europe.
The Rough storage facility, which is 18 miles off the coast of Yorkshire, was effectively mothballed in 2016 as new gas and Electricity connections to Europe meant it was considered redundant.
It was brought back into partial service last October with Three Days ' worth of the UK's average gas usage pumped in. From Friday, that will be doubled to Six Days ' worth, bringing the UK's total reserves to 12 Days .
" There is nowhere near enough gas storage, it could be more resilient, " said Mr O'Shea. " But it's far better than it was. So we've doubled the capacity and we should really not lose sight of that this makes a huge difference. "
In contrast, Germany has reserves of 90 Days , France has 103 days and the Netherlands has 123 days' worth of gas.
Centrica said it would like to see Rough's capacity increased to 27 days' worth but that would require £2bn of investment which in turn, Mr O'Shea said, would require a government subsidy through a special pricing structure.
Looking Ahead to winter, the Centrica boss acknowledged that many customers would find it difficult to pay energy bills at a time of rising food and housing costs.
British Gas came Under Fire earlier this year when The Times newspaper revealed that a contractor working for The Company was force-fitting pre-payment meters in vulnerable customers' homes.
Force-fitting pre-payment meters was suspended across the industry for a time.
They can now be fitted again but Ofgem said customers must be given more chance to clear debts and forced meter fittings are banned in homes with residents all aged over 85.
Centrica is the subject of an ongoing Ofgem investigation. The Company has brought its debt collection activities in-house but Mr O'Shea said there was still a problem in telling the difference between those who would not pay and those who genuinely couldn't.
He suggested The Answer was to introduce a social tariff for the neediest customers funded from general taxation.
" The government support that was put in place with the energy price guarantee was incredibly helpful for people but it wasn't targeted, " He Said . " So it helped the richest as much as it helped the poorest In Society .
" What we'd like to see is a social tariff put in place for those that need help most get The Help most and those that don't get no help whatsoever. "
Related TopicsSource of news: bbc.com