I'm delighted to join the board of the @GWPF_org Educating people about energy and the consequences of bad energy policy is a topic close to my heart. Policy needs to be evidence driven and data-led Since it was established by the late Nigel Lawson, GWPF has sought to do just that - point out where policy is driven by fear rather than facts and the terrible consequences that has for the lives and livelihoods of those affected Many countries have responded to the climate challenge with policies that simply move emissions offshore. That offshoring is generally to places with dirtier energy, weaker environmental and safety standards, and poor human rights records That is not a victory for the climate or for humanity We need rational, evidence-based policies that drive towards true sustainability and not greenwashing fantasies, and this is why I am delighted to join the GWPF board @cmackinlay @HarryWilkinsonn @AllisonPearson @aDissentient @DavidGHFrost

Excellent article by @CitySamuel at @thetimes on @neso_energy's challenges in running the grid She quotes Andrew Larkins, an energy consultant and former Ofgem adviser, saying: “They’re at risk of normalising something that’s meant to be part of an emergency system… It shows how hard they’re having to work to keep the lights on.” Juliet points out the lack of transparency at NESO which limits our ability to understand what's going on, comparing it to Australian system operator @AEMO_Energy which takes a more open approach She says: "The broader answer is that governments, regulators and owners of the system have indulged a decade of wishful thinking and under-investment, pretending they know how to pull off a radical energy transition when they have devoted appallingly little forethought, planning and money to the question. The electricity grid used to run off a hundred or so fossil fuel generators, which can be turned up and down on request and are mechanically stable because they spin big, heavy rotors. Demand also tended to follow a pattern. This made balancing power supply and demand fairly straightforward. Now, large portions of our power (some days, all of it) come from a mix of undersea cables, renewables plants and batteries, all of which can abruptly and unpredictably turn off and on. Small units, such as rooftop solar, don’t even send data to the grid. Customers are using new, variable gadgets like smart meters and electric cars. Forecasting and responding to changes has become, to be technical, a total bloody nightmare. “We can’t see how much reserve we have,” says the engineer." She concludes: "Governments, regulators, operators and owners have all conspired in the delusion that everything is fine and we can keep going at breakneck speed to “clean power 2030”. But the strain is showing and the engineers won’t pretend any more. You can’t run an electricity grid on a news grid." Of course, her column was written before today's issues - frequency going outside both the lower and upper operational frequency bounds and lots of within day interconnector trades against the market direction, violating the trading limits affecting large parts of the day NESO's insistence that there's "nothing to see here" is wearing very thin indeed #EnergySecurity @Miatsf @mgshanks @AndrewBowie_MP @ClaireCoutinho @HarrietCross_MP @ColinMoynihanUK @drlukeevans @Ashley7Fox @TiceRichard @cmackinlay @mattwridley @Iromg @AllisonPearson @MerrynSW @EdConwaySky @afneil @mattotele @Jonathan__Leake @energygovuk @ofgem thetimes.com/comment/columni…

It's a bit rich for @bankofengland governor Andrew Bailey to warn against a Budget that repeats the crisis after the Truss mini-Budget when part of that turmoil was caused by the BoE itself deciding to start unwinding QE at the same time that the mini-Budget was issued It's also not the place of the BoE to seek to influence the Budget either through market interventions like selling gilts or by making speeches I have low confidence in @JohnHealey_MP and @AndyBurnham getting this Budget right - I think they're addicted to public spending, addicted to big state and addicted to high taxes I think they will struggle to devise a Budget that both the PLP - which seems to live in a fantasy world where "the rich" and businesses can be infinitely taxed - and the bond markets will wear But the Budget is up to them and not the central bank telegraph.co.uk/bank-of-engl…

Writing in the @Telegraph I explain what @UKLabour could do about high diesel prices If it really cared about the cost of living it would cut fuel duty. It's currently 52.95p /litre and set to rise by 5p by the New Year as a previous discount expires We pay VAT on top of the duty... Literally tax on top of tax. Fuel duty is generally the largest component of the pump price - with VAT tax is significantly higher than the wholesale cost (crude oil + refining) The Government should also abolish the UK ETS. This carbon tax does nothing to incentivise renewables which require huge subsidies to be built, and energy efficiency investments are already incentivised due to the high cost of energy The ETS cannot be passed through by refineries which compete with imported fuels. Those imports are 🔹 made with dirtier energy 🔹 incur additional emissions from shipping 🔹 often subsidised 🔹 subject to much weaker environmental controls 🔹 subject to less strict safety regulations 🔹 often made in countries where workers are exploited and /or slave labour is used Fuels refined in the UK are therefore vastly superior to imported fuels as well as being a benefit to the UK economy and UK energy security Abolishing the ETS would protect the remaining UK refineries of which there are now just FOUR! #EnergySecurity @AndyBurnham @Miatsf @mgshanks @AndrewBowie_MP @ClaireCoutinho @HarrietCross_MP @drlukeevans @Ashley7Fox @ColinMoynihanUK @cmackinlay @mattwridley @DavidGHFrost @Iromg @AllisonPearson @MerrynSW @EdConwaySky @afneil @mattotele @jonathan_leake @julietsamuel telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/10…

It's called Connect & Manage...this policy allows windfarms to be built with massive subsidies despite the fact that most of the electricity they generate cannot be used and it could be years before that changes Windfarms such as Seagreen which opened in October 2023... In 2024 2/3 of its electricity was thrown away. In 2025 that went up to 3/4 The cost of that goes straight on our bills. The windfarms don't care they get paid either way. The grid companies don't care, they also get paid either way. The Government doesn't care as it can point to windfarms being built While consumers get completely shafted

If @UKLabour cared about UK refineries it would abolish the ETS If it cared about the cost of living it would cut fuel duty Not holding my breath though

It's depressing that time and again policymakers spout nonsense about gas markets and then use these misconceptions as the basis for policy My new report sets out in detail how gas markets actually work and why prices are not "global" Once you understand that there's not even a single European price never mind a single global price, and that UK gas prices now tend to be lower than European ones, it becomes obvious that we need to maximise UKCS production Yet we use pessimistic projections based on a highly hostile fiscal and regulatory landscape as "proof" the UKCS is on its last legs and is becoming irrelevant Alternative forecasts from @OEUK_ show significant upside potential if a more encouraging regime was adopted - the geology is the same but the economic context can be changed The first of my six recommendations is to fix the broken understanding of how the gas market actually works - do this and much of the rest becomes pretty clear #EnergySecurity @Miatsf @mgshanks @AndrewBowie_MP @ClaireCoutinho @griffitha @ColinMoynihanUK @HarrietCross_MP @Iromg @AllisonPearson @afneil @mattwridley @EdConwaySky @MerrynSW @mattotele @Jonathan__Leake @CitySamuel watt-logic.com/2026/09/27/ga…