Kwasi kwarteng

Boris Johnson is poised to nationalise a key part of the electricity network in the biggest overhaul to the UK's energy system in decades. National Grid is to be stripped of its role in running the electricity system more than 30 years after the industry was privatised. National Grid Electricity System Operator, a separate legal entity from the FTSE 100 company, is responsible for balancing electricity supply and demand but this body will be effectively nationalised and turned into a so-called Future System Operator (FSO) giving ministers greater powers to oversee the system. Ministers and regulators believe the move will help create a system better equipped to cope with the complex demands of lower carbon energy supply, while keeping costs down. Critics have warned that National Grid may not be best placed to oversee a system that needs to be able to cope with significant spikes in demand in the future such as thousands of drivers plugging their cars in to charge at the … [Read more...] about Boris Johnson to nationalise key part of Britain’s electricity system

By Douglas Fraser Published 5 days ago Share close Share page Copy link About sharing Oil and gas producers have hit back at calls for a windfall tax on their profits, saying they are already paying more tax as a result of price rises. Offshore Energies UK (OEUK), which represents the sector, said producers are on course to pay £7.8bn in UK tax this year. That is up from £3.1bn last year. However political pressure is growing for a one-off additional tax to fund support for customers facing higher energy bills. The independent Office for Budget Responsibility has calculated the tax UK fossil fuel energy producers are expected to pay this year to be nearly twenty times the £400m paid in 2020. That year, at the start of the pandemic, prices plummeted and producers sustained losses. But profits have soared this year after sharp price increases in energy prices, prompting calls … [Read more...] about Oil and gas industry pushes back over windfall tax