This is great from @samalvis.bsky.social (via @acjsissons.bsky.social) as explainer on Ed M's big speech at 11am electionenergy.substack.com/p/ee-22-cons...
The end bit, on how 'novel' approaches such as the one (I think) currently promoted by Greens, just carry too much risk for now, is important.
The government will unveil plans later today to de-link gas and electricity prices. I wrote about what that actually means and why it’s politically important for @newstatesman1913.bsky.social
www.newstatesman.com/politics/mil...
For further reading on the nitty gritty energy policy, this post by @samalvis.bsky.social is v good & was very helpful for writing this piece:
electionenergy.substack.com/p/ee-22-cons...
Thanks John
Worth reading @samalvis.bsky.social, who's been advocating this very move
bsky.app/profile/sama...
Worth watching Ed Miliband's speech tomorrow to see if any more detail on this
Worth watching Ed Miliband's speech tomorrow to see if any more detail on this
This is a good read by @samalvis.bsky.social, and this is basically what I think on the whole “decoupling gas and electricity prices” thing.
The first best answer is “build more renewables and flex”, and we’re making a lot of progress on that
Rachel Reeves managed to wipe several million off SSE's share price on Thursday with a loose promise to decouple electricity and gas prices. Why? And what might she announce this week? 🧵1/6
electionenergy.substack.com/p/ee-22-cons...
6/6. A bit less money for some investors sure but not a reason to dramatically reprice energy companies. That doesn't mean market reform should never be on the table, just that its not needed while we build a new system.
Read the full piece electionenergy.substack.com/p/ee-22-cons...
5. But because govt has the ultimate solution (build) it doesn't need to do something radical. It needs to stop rent payments going to old renewables, build more, faster, and increase flexibility (so demand is spread throughout the day).
4. But the CHX's loose statement opens up a world of changing electricity markets. Especially with the volume of proposals flying around on the left atm.
3. The only proven way to 'break the link' is by building lots of renewables. Look at the difference between Spain and Italy. The UK wants to get here, and we are. With Clean Power gas will set the price ~15% of the time.
2. Higher gas prices mean windfall payments for legacy renewables. Marginal pricing allows the UK to source the cheapest generation first (that's good!) but when your marginal unit is expensive and used often it costs. But those rents aren't going to gas - they're going to legacy renewables
Rachel Reeves managed to wipe several million off SSE's share price on Thursday with a loose promise to decouple electricity and gas prices. Why? And what might she announce this week? 🧵1/6
electionenergy.substack.com/p/ee-22-cons...
Elec prices are set by gas 70% of the time. If you build more renewables it happens less and less often (we’d expect <15% come 2031). If you slow down building you prolong the time legacy renewables extract rents. But that also isn’t the case for CfDs which get paid the set price regardless!
Tipping point?
"New electric cars now cost £42,620 on average, compared with £43,405 for petrol models."
plc.autotrader.co.uk/news-views/p...
This is a very good set of essays but I’m so triggered by calling it the affordability crisis. That’s what Mamdami called it, it’s not what a single member of the British public would refer to. A classic of American politics meaning we talk past voters.
fabians.org.uk/wp-content/u...
It is I would say a broad definition of benefit... It's a benefit that there isn't a cost?
Bingo! Took me a good long while of staring at numbers this morning to work this out.
AI rose in salience more than any other issue for US voters last year, with backlash from creatives, X-risk activists, parents, workers, environmentalists and more
We expect pressure to build in 2026 as AI gets even more capable, and @ippr.org we argue governments need to urgently spread the upside
Ah a new Man-azine
I hadn't clocked that the NSW vs Vic fuel crisis response would be a great natural experiment to determine the effect of free public transit on usage levels, but it is. So far, the results are very much in line with the previous literature (ie it does sod all to drive modal shift from cars)
The IMF’s latest outlook paints a bleak picture and underlines a hard truth: the UK’s economy is still at the mercy of global crises.
Our dependence on volatile fossil fuels leaves households and businesses exposed to yet another wave of energy price shocks.
The FIFA 2003 soundtrack
Amazing!
So great! Used to go every year when I was a kid and went back a couple years ago. The walk to Saundersfoot is really nice and manageable and if you have time Barfundle beach is so gorgeous.
Wrote this a year ago for @prospectmagazine.co.uk when Blair took another swipe at the Labour government
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/politics/698...
Playing from 0:00
open.spotify.com/episode/1Slz... @samalvis.bsky.social is a great guest - glad to discover this podcast
Thanks Ben, very kind