Regulation and policy

  • Regulation and policy

    Free Energy market alert | Last night’s Federal budget

    The Federal Budget released yesterday (9 May 2023) is the first full-year budget from the new Labor Federal Government. Like the mini-budget released last October, the budget signals the new Government’s intertwining climate change and energy ambitions. Cornwall Insight Australia has released a concise Energy Market Alert on the budget,...

  • Regulation and policy

    Come gather ‘round people: recent policy and industry developments 

    In the recent weeks and months there has been a flurry of policy documents published seeking to address both near-term and future challenges in the energy market. In our latest blog, we provide a summary of some of the key updates across Low Carbon Generation, Flexibility Markets, and Electricity and...

  • Regulation and policy

    Our response to the Spring Budget

    Once again, a UK budget has seen some significant energy policy announcements that will stir up conversation and opinion across the country. It also shows how reining in energy prices is seen as key to restraining inflation. The pre-budget announcement to maintain the Energy Price Guarantee (EPG) at £2,500 had...

  • Regulation and policy

    Questions from the British-Ireland Parliamentary Assembly

    Ruth Young, Senior Consultant at Cornwall Insight Ireland and Robert Buckley, Head of Relationship Development, recently participated in a session at the British-Ireland Parliamentary Assembly to address recent energy trends. They prepared a sample of the briefing notes with answers to: What are the main challenges governments in the BIPA...

  • Low carbon generation

    Government publishes Ireland’s Climate Action Plan 2023

    This article is an extract from our Energy Spectrum Ireland service, which is a monthly publication and weekly news bulletin covering key developments in the Irish and Northern Irish energy sectors. If you are interested, we are currently offering a free trial which you can sign up to by filling...

  • Business supply and services

    Early implications of the Energy Bill Discount Scheme  

    People are beginning to take in the changes from the business Energy Bill Relief Scheme (EBRS) to the Energy Bill Discount Scheme (EBDS) that are scheduled for the end of March. As we outlined in our release earlier in the week, the government support is to be scaled back significantly....

  • Business supply and services

    Top 3 predictions for the energy transition

    Robert Buckley, our Head of Relationship Development, gave his top 3 predictions for the energy transition in 2023. 1) Decarbonisation destabilisation Europe’s energy market is going through a war-driven restructuring away from Russian gas which will take years. Wholesale gas, coal and carbon prices will remain very high much longer...

  • E-mobility and low carbon

    2022’s most exciting ‘Charts of the Week’

    Some of our team have looked back throughout 2022 and picked their most exciting ‘Chart of the Week’.​Their choices include exploring green tariffs, wholesale gas prices, CfD allocation round 4 and the MHHS Implementation Levy.  It’s My Birthday – Two years of Dynamic Containment Picked by Tom Faulkner, Head of...

  • Regulation and policy

    Global shocks but energy transition powers ahead – 2022 year in review

    It goes without saying that 2022 has been a tumultuous year for energy worldwide, and Australia was no exception. The unprecedented suspension of the NEM in June 2022 exposed fragility in Australia’s energy market, which could not withstand the shock of high energy commodity prices caused by the Russian invasion...

  • Regulation and policy

    Energy Market Alerts service and key alerts

    Australia’s energy market is rapidly changing, with increasing renewable generation, exiting thermal plants, and new technologies on the horizon, such as hydrogen. Policymakers and regulators at the Federal and State levels are grappling with this transition. As a result, it may seem there are a bewildering number of regulatory changes...

  • Regulation and policy

    Regulatory Authority (RA) System Services Future Arrangements (SSFA) Workshop

    The RA held a stakeholder workshop on 23 November to provide an update on the next steps of the project following the publication of the decision paper on the System Services Future Arrangements High Level Design (SEM-22-012) in April 2022. The objective of the SSFA is to deliver a competitive...

  • Regulation and policy

    Government to implement EU measures to address windfall gains

    On Tuesday 22 November, the government announced that it will implement Council Regulation (EU) 2022/1854 to address windfall gains in the energy sector. This will include a cap on all market revenues of non-gas electricity generators, with excess revenues to be collected and used to support electricity consumers. The cap...

  • Regulation and policy

    What are social tariffs and why might we need them?   

    As the government’s primary tools for mitigating high consumer energy bills are expected to end in April 2024, and with the Autumn Statement’s mention of a “new approach to consumer protection” many are discussing the future of the UK’s energy bill support mechanisms. Given the Statement’s express mention of “social...

  • Commercial and market outlook

    October Energy Executive Summary updates on Vic SEC proposal and Qld Job and Energy Plan

    Cornwall Insight Australia's ‘Energy executive summary’ provides a high-level assessment of key energy market announcements from the last month. Our experts break down each development that you and your business should be aware of so you can respond to changes in the perpetually evolving energy sector. Each summary provides you...

  • Regulation and policy

    Energy Price Guarantee to end in April

    I was not surprised by the announcement from the Chancellor today (17/10) regarding the shortened time period in which the domestic Energy Price Guarantee (EPG) will apply, for all the reasons discussed in our report -  Energy Price Guarantee - Counting the Cost - and my accompanying blog. Our report...

  • Regulation and policy

    Government to consult on the introduction of Cost-Plus-Revenue Limit

    The government issued its Energy Prices Bill on 12 October. The bill will put in law a number of the already-announced mechanisms that will be used to support households and businesses this winter including the Energy Price Guarantee and the Energy Bill Relief Scheme. Also announced alongside this is the...

  • Energy storage and flexibility

    From zero to hero: Can CfDs split markets and reduce costs this winter?

    Given media comment on the imposition of a revenue cap for low carbon generators instead of migration of existing projects onto a CfD, please find below a blog published by Cornwall Insight three weeks ago. Not only did this note the possibility of the revenue cap being a fall back...

  • Regulation and policy

    New customer support schemes will need very careful management

    1 October 2022, marked a momentous day for the British retail energy markets, indeed for the nation as a whole. On that Saturday the Energy Price Guarantee (EPG) commenced for household customers and the Energy Bill Reduction Scheme (EBRS) for businesses. Not since March 1990 have ministers had so much...

  • Regulation and policy

    Energy Price Guarantee – Counting the Costs

    Modelling from Cornwall Insight has forecast the two-year cost of the Energy Price Guarantee (EPG) to be between £72bn in the lowest case scenario, and £140bn in the extreme high case scenario1. The data included in our new EPG report ‘Counting the Costs’, shows a near doubling of the forecasts...

  • Regulation and policy

    One-hit wonder? Assessing the government’s business support scheme

    Subsidising the unprecedented cost of energy for both households and businesses came in at the forefront of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Kwasi Kwarteng’s “mini-budget” last Friday. Described as “one of the biggest interventions ever made”, Kwarteng confirmed a three-step plan. Firstly, as announced on 8 September, the introduction of...

  • Energy storage and flexibility

    Electricity network reform: where are we now?

    In its Energy Security Strategy (ESS), the UK government set out ambitions for 95% of electricity to be sourced from low carbon generation by 2030 and for the UK to have a fully decarbonised electricity system by 2035. In order to accommodate this ambition, the electricity network will need to...

  • Regulation and policy

    Energy Bill Relief Scheme – the devil is in the detail

    The new government scheme will bring significant relief to many businesses and public sector organisations as they try to navigate the unprecedented energy rises. Economically it was important that government took action.The reduction in energy costs will be substantial. As a proxy and noting the challenge of calculating a homogenous...

  • Regulation and policy

    The certainty of uncertainty

    Energy prices came off at the end of the week. There is a cautiously positive sentiment that having coped with the Nord Stream 1 shutdown without price carnage and with European storage stocks on target, the August peaks are in the rearview mirror. But, whilst it is very positive that...

  • Business supply and services

    The Energy Price Guarantee, a Path Through Stormy Seas?

    Upon taking office on 6 September 2022, the first piece of major policy introduced by the new Prime Minister, Liz Truss, is the Energy Price Guarantee (EPG), announced on 8 September 2022. The EPG is a series of support measures targeted at protecting domestic and business consumers from soaring energy...

  • Business supply and services

    Great expectations – the complexity of delivering on the promise for business energy costs

    Stories of hardship to businesses from rising energy prices have become much more prevalent in recent weeks as the critical 1 October date for new supply contracts looms. Our recent insight paper Weathering the storm: Mitigating the impact of energy price hikes for businesses set out some of the reasons...

  • Power and gas networks

    Gas DSR reforms ahead of winter 2022-23

    National Grid has recently carried out a review of the Gas Demand Side Response (DSR) voluntary curtailment mechanism through July and August. The Gas DSR allows shippers to offer a consumption curtailment service to National Grid Gas (NGG) during periods of acute gas supply constraint called a Gas Deficit Emergency...

  • Home supply and services

    Cornwall Insight comments on the announcement of the October price cap

    If you are a consumer seeking support with their energy bills, please read our blog here: https://www.cornwall-insight.com/support-for-consumers-concerned-about-rising-energy-bills/ The rise in the Default Tariff Cap (price cap) was unfortunately inevitable, as UK bills continue to be the victim of an unstable and unpredictable global market. While there is still some time until...

  • Home supply and services

    Highlights from our Energy Supplier Compliance webinar

    As part of our Energy supplier compliance portal service, we run a webinar every 6 months which looks at key updates.    Our latest webinar looked back at the decisions made under Ofgem’s financial resilience plan. This included strengthening milestone assessments and introducing additional reporting requirements. It also decided on the short-term interventions...

  • Home supply and services

    Cornwall Insight release final predictions for October’s Price Cap

    If you are a consumer seeking support with their energy bills, please read our blog here: https://www.cornwall-insight.com/support-for-consumers-concerned-about-rising-energy-bills/ Cornwall Insight are releasing our final predictions for October’s Default Tariff Cap (Price Cap) prior to Ofgem’s announcement on Friday 26th August. Predictions show a typical household1 will be paying £3,554 equivalent per year...

  • Low carbon generation

    Energy System Reform: Ofgem shares plans for Britain’s energy system

    Against the backdrop of record high and volatile energy prices, Ofgem set out on 8 July its view on key aspects of the GB energy system where it considers significant reform is required to deliver a resilient, low cost, low carbon energy sector. Recent developments in the energy market, such...