Ofgem announces bills to rise
December 18, 2009 at 4:18 pm
Households across the UK face increases in electricity bills after the industry regulator, Ofgem, approved requests from all fourteen regional distributors to raise prices by 5.6% for the next five years.
In April 2010, bills will go up by about £4.30 on average and, according to uSwitch, this represents the “thin edge of the wedge” and a “wake up call for us all”. Ofgem, however, maintains that the increases are necessary for investment to the tune of £7.2 billion which is needed to upgrade the network.
Earlier in the year, Ofgem had approved an increase of just under £4 on average which would have raised £6.5 billion. The extra funding is said to be necessary for distributors to switch to a greener supply. The electricity companies also need money to prepare for large scale trials of “smart grids” which will reduce carbon emissions.
Scottish and Southern Electricity has said that the increase which has been approved is too low and that it will have to reassess its future investments and other plans. All distributors have until 6 Jan to respond.
uSwitch is warning consumers that they are entering an era of high energy bills with electricity distributors starting out on a huge investment programme which will have obvious results for customers. Households will therefore have to adapt their behaviour, according to Ann Robinson, Consumer Director of uSwitch. Her advice is to invest in making the home more energy efficient, reduce the electricity used and ensure that you are not paying too much for the electricity that you do use.
New E.ON wind farm approved
December 18, 2009 at 4:17 pm
E.ON has just received approval to build a new wind farm that will provide power for up to 20,000 homes. With the Scottish government setting itself strict targets on the amount of energy it wants to generate from renewable energy in the future (50% by 2020), and the Copenhagen summit currently trying to establish a deal that would see greenhouse gasses reduced by all nations, this is a step in the right direction.
The new wind farm will be constructed at a 1,300 hectare site at Dungavel Hill, which is south of Strathaven in South Lanarkshire. The council’s planning committee approved the application and construction will begin shortly.
There are currently plans to construct 13 wind turbines at the site. Each of these turbines will be capable of producing 2.3MW, meaning the site will produce just under 30MW in total. Eight of the turbines are going to be 101 metres tall, with the remaining five 121 metres tall.
Apart from helping Scotland to reduce its dependence on fossil fuels and the government to hit its green energy target, the new site will also provide numerous jobs for local contractors. There are expected to be anything up to 60 contractors working at the site when the construction gets going. This is further proof of how switching to green energy can help to create jobs and move the UK out of the current recession.
The project developer for E.ON, Ahmed Mulla, said that it was “excellent news” for the company, and that it would help to “displace 40,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year.”
6% of UK energy from renewables possible by 2020
December 11, 2009 at 11:28 am
New research from Friends of the Earth suggests that 6% of the UK’s energy needs could come from small-scale renewable resources by 2020. However, in order for this to be achieved, the ROI (Return on Investment) for the FIT (Feed-in Tariff) rates needs to be higher.
To put things in perspective, 6% of the UK’s energy needs is equal to twice the amount of energy produced by the Sizewell B plant.
The FIT will provide above-market rates for any electricity that is produced from small-scale green energy technologies, including wind turbines and solar panels. This means people can produce their own electricity on a small scale and sell it back to the grid for a profit. But the decision on the final rate will not be confirmed until January 2010.
Friends of the Earth used figures from the DECC (Department of Energy and Climate Change) to come up with its prediction. It is now calling for a better scheme to be introduced to make the most of small-scale green energy production.
The government’s current target is just 2% of electricity from renewables, which Friends of the Earth claims is nowhere near ambitious enough. The proposed ROI for the tariffs is currently between 5% and 8%. However, if this were to be raised to 10% then the amount of renewable energy generated by 2020 would be greatly increased.
Friends of the Earth has also claimed that it would not cost customers a lot more in order to reach this target, as they would only be paying an average of £2.10 more on their energy bills than the amount that is currently being proposed by the DECC.
