camelot-forum.co.uk

Project by startup Granular will offer greater transparency over energy sources and could mean lower bills
Consumers will soon be able to check where their energy is coming from hourly, and get a discount on bills if they use electricity when renewables are in surplus.

Under plans by the startup Granular and energy giants including Elexon and National Grid, energy companies will allow UK consumers to track their power source.

This could help the country reduce emissions, as it will be easier for people to choose energy companies that are transparent about exactly how much renewable energy they use.

Because there are times of day when renewable energy is less available – for example when it is less windy or sunny – consumers could be incentivised to use power when it is in oversupply by offering a discount on their bills. This could lead to less gas being used.

The current system is based on annual matching, in which the energy provider looks at the previous year’s energy use and matches it with the equivalent amount of renewable energy, but there is a growing trend to move to hourly matching instead. Companies including Google and Microsoft have been calling for the move as it could lead to organisations being able to definitively say they use renewable energy 24/7.

It will also increase consumer demand, say experts, as they will be able to choose more renewable options. This is likely to lead to companies investing in renewables, and in battery technology for more efficient storage.

AE-NMidlands wrote: ↑Wed Apr 20, 2022 12:31 pm (& it's nice to see calls for the directors of failed energy companies to be held personally-liable for some of the debt they have run up and unloaded onto the rest of us. At last!)

The co-founder of collapsed energy firm Bulb has defended continuing to be paid £250,000 a year, saying he is helping with a sale of the company.
Boss Hayden Wood told MPs he was asked to stay on to "support customers".
He said he was "very sorry" for how the company collapsed when it buckled under rising wholesale gas prices...

The committee also quizzed Jake Brown, chief executive of now-collapsed firm Avro, which had 580,000 customers.
Mr Brown faced questions about loans his family business took out of the firm, as well as his failures to engage with regulators and energy charities. Avro's collapse is expected to cost £700m.
The committee chair said Mr Brown had appeared to have got off "pretty lightly" when customers were now having to foot the bill for his business going bust.

Labour MP Darren Jones added Mr Brown "personified" the reason the government needed to change energy market regulation and said he "took customer money out the business".
"In my view you should have never been allowed to start an energy company. I find it quite offensive that you have ended up with so much of customers' money," he said.

Mr Brown told MPs he had a "lot of regret" that that company had gone bust and claimed he "had not touched any customers' money".

Meanwhile, Mr O'Shea said 10% of Centrica customers - about 716,000 households - were in £440 of debt on average compared to 125,000 at this time last year.

He said the insolvency service "should pursue managers, the directors, the executives of every failed company".
"Those that have misbehaved should feel the full force of the law," he added.