Have you ever thought of the actual breakdown of your energy charges and why it can change so much year-on-year? The energy cost you pay for on your bill is a combination of a multitude of charges, each can change, and does, with each underpinned by its own market volatility. As a result the headline […]
Liquidity in Energy Markets
Liquidity refers to the relative volume and frequency that a trade occurs in a market. When we talk of liquidity in the energy markets it is usually commenting on a lack of it, or in other words the fact that there are too few generators needing to sell too little energy to too many suppliers […]
Tips for a More Energy Efficient Boiler
The £400m Question Businesses stand to save a collective £400m a year by taking simple actions to make their boilers run more efficiently, says the Carbon Trust. The organisation has found that heating and hot water accounts for more than a third of businesses’ energy consumption. In addition up to 60% of the carbon emissions from […]
To Subsidise Or Not To Subsidise Energy?
In the last couple of weeks as temperatures have dipped below 10C, energy has been a hot topic. Last week, SSE announced rises of 8.2% for domestic energy consumers, Ed Miliband promised to freeze energy prices for homes and businesses if he is elected in 2015, and amid fears that consumers will bear the brunt […]
Why Big Businesses Need to Beat the Switching Rush
1990: the year of the first connection of the Channel Tunnel and the first steps to a deregulated, privatised electricity market. The concept of only having the slow ferry as the habitual choice for Channel-hopping seems quaint now, but when it comes to the deregulation of the energy markets, some habits die-hard. The first segments […]
Business Juice Responds to Miliband Energy Price Freeze
CEO James Constant explains why Ed Miliband’s energy price freeze promise creates false hope and an unworkable solution in the continued struggle to create meaningful and executable energy policy. As an organisation focussed on improving energy market conditions for businesses we are working with the government to remove the worst excesses of business energy suppliers. […]
Labour’s Energy Price Freeze Announcement
Economist Response, Guest Post by Lisa Waters In the latest of our series of guest blogs, economist Lisa Waters of Waters Wye Associates explains why in reality Ed Miliband’s energy price freeze isn’t really as good as it sounds. Freezing energy prices for 20 months made great headlines at the Labour Party conference, but is it […]
DECC Exposed, Potential Conflict of Interest
Department of Energy and Climate Change exposed in potential conflict of interest Most people would agree that when it comes to decision and policy making, there is merit in having people with relevant industry experience influencing the outcomes. However, not so much when the decision and policy makers are the Department of Energy and Climate […]
History Of Electricity Part 3
Electricity Prices In the third of our posts on the history of electricity, we’re tackling the issue that everyone cares about the most – price. 1921 – when electricity first started making its way into people’s homes on a mass scale, consumption was low, and electricity wasn’t cheap; it cost 1.03p/kWh, which might sound cheap, but […]
History Of Electricity Part 2
How Much Electricity We Use In the second of our posts on the history of electricity, we’re looking at our electricity usage over the last century: 1920 – in 1919, the Electricity Act was passed and the Electricity Supply Corporation was founded, paving the way for electricity in the home. In these early days, the average […]