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This isn’t going to make ‘leccie cheaper. Well, not much

Currently, the overall price is set by the most expensive source of power, which is usually gas power plants. This has led to a surge in electricity market prices across Europe, but particularly in countries such as the UK that rely on gas.

The plans to increase the generator levy – which applies to nuclear, biomass and renewable energy projects built before 2017 – will be used to raise Treasury funds to help shield consumer energy bills in the short-term while the government consults on long-term plans to reform the wholesale market.

The government is also expected to consult on plans to shift older, low-carbon projects subsidised by the government’s renewables obligation scheme on to the newer set-price contracts, which provide electricity at a guaranteed price.

So, the older stuff gets RoCs. If the ‘leccie price goes over the RoC guarantee then the generators get to keep the extra. The newer stuff is on CfDs, when ‘leccie goes over that price then generators hand back the excess.

If we move all the RoCs to CfDs – and you can bet there will have to be compensation payments – then the ‘leccie price is that permanently high CfD price. Sure, some of it might be from general taxation, some hidden in the system costs bit, but it’s still there and still to be paid.

It’s going to make much less difference then many seem to think.

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Martin Near The M25
Martin Near The M25
1 month ago

Doubt it’s meant to make a difference, or make the costs clearer.

andyf
andyf
1 month ago

The “generator levy” is of course a windfall tax at I believe 45%.

Boganboy
Boganboy
1 month ago

Drill baby, drill. Trump was right.

Jimmers
Jimmers
1 month ago

Drilling, fracking, nukes and getting rid of unreliables. That’s what will make ‘leccie cheaper.
Getting rid of Milicunt is the obvious first step.

john77
john77
1 month ago

The usual LIE.
The gas plants are not the most expensive – they are (slightly less than) HALF the average price.
A majority of the *reported* cost is the carbon tax that Red Ed has applied to make them SEEM more expensive. Even his DESNZ says CCGT costs £54/Mwh vs Offshore Windof £113/Mwh, so he adds a carbon tax of £60/Mwh to distort the figures

John B
John B
1 month ago
Reply to  john77

The wholesale price is calculated every 30 minutes and set by the price of the last to join the grid which is also the highest price – which is why it is last to join the grid.

Since gas is always present, it usually sets the price. But if gas sets the price at £71 and let’s say wind is offered at £40, it will nevertheless get the strike price according to the CfD – latest is £128. So the wholesale price of gas will be £71 – set by gas but NESO (grid operator) will pay wind an extra £57 (£128 – £71 = £57) and that £57 is passed on to consumers via retail prices.

It is disingenuous to say that gas is the most expensive when all the costs of wind/solar are not included.

john77
john77
1 month ago
Reply to  John B

OK, so it’s even worse than I said – there is not one massive cheat but two massive cheats to make us consumers pay more to Dale Vince the mega-donor to Labour and other “Green” rippers-off.

Addolff
Addolff
1 month ago

Paul Burgess on the real reasons we are paying too much for juice:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkhLbT1NC-s&t=400s

jgh
jgh
1 month ago

It’s going to be financially beneficial to install a gas-powered generator at home.

Gamecock
Gamecock
1 month ago

reform the wholesale market

“Hey, let’s screw up the wholesale market, too!”

You have to have a short memory to be a central planner, so you can forget that it was you who caused the trouble in the first place and believe your next move will be successful.

Steve
Steve
1 month ago

Labour MPs are biomass.

Theophrastus
Theophrastus
1 month ago
Reply to  Steve

And biomassive…

20260129_154553
Steve
Steve
1 month ago
Reply to  Theophrastus

He’s a big man, but he’s out of shape

Mr Womby
Mr Womby
1 month ago
Reply to  Steve

He deserves more than a slap across the chops.

The Original Jim
The Original Jim
1 month ago
Reply to  Steve

With me its a full time job. Now behave yourself.

asiaseen
asiaseen
1 month ago

Just imagine what it will be like if Moron Millicrap takes over when Know Nothing Starmer finally gets his P45.

asiaseen
asiaseen
1 month ago
Reply to  asiaseen

Mind you, none of the alternatives seem to be much better.

Theophrastus
Theophrastus
1 month ago
Reply to  asiaseen

Miliband would probably be opposed by the GMB and the RMT – and possibly Unite. These unions are sceptical of net zero – “decarbonisation by deindustrialisation” – while the constituency parties are strongly for it. Moreover, Miliband has lost before, and he is a PR nightmare (see below).

Currently, Rayner is a liability given the investigation into her tax affairs, but she’s a gobby working class woman – which plays well with many union and constituency activists. She’d like to make history as Labour’s first female PM, even if that meant risking being the last Labour PM ever…

At this remote stage…my guess is that Miliband will not enter the contest. He sees himself as a “man of destiny” and his focus is on net zero. Would he want to risk being the PM that took Labour to its electoral annihilation by the Greens and Reform, if that meant abandoning critical oversight of his pet project? Or would he prefer a couple of years as PM and then posing as an elder statesman?

So, given questions about Miliband and Rayner I wonder if some ‘caretaker’, safe-pair-of-hands, compromise candidate might not emerge…

That said, Miliband and Rayner are essentially Marxists – Miliband absorbed Marxism with his mother’s milk – but Rayner strikes me as more pragmatic.

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Last edited 1 month ago by Theophrastus
Bloke in North Dorset
Bloke in North Dorset
1 month ago
Reply to  Theophrastus

I see a lot of informed speculation that Miliband wants to be chancellor because he can do more for net zero in that role, although Streeting is rumoured to have offered that job to Mrs Balls.

Theophrastus
Theophrastus
1 month ago

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Gamecock
Gamecock
1 month ago
Reply to  Theophrastus

We laugh at the faux pas of the Ancients, yet we are just like them.

Steve
Steve
1 month ago
Reply to  Gamecock

Who’s “we”, paleface?

I’m justified, and I’m ancient. And I drive an ice cream van.

john77
john77
1 month ago
Reply to  Steve

I’m palefaced and ancient but I don’t drive an ice-cream van; I walk (the “enviromentalist” would-be-autocrats haven’t condemned walking *yet* although it does cause us to emit CO2).

Norman
Norman
1 month ago
Reply to  john77

The ice-cream van is a “popular music” reference…

Theophrastus
Theophrastus
1 month ago
Reply to  Norman

Thanks, Norman. That reference had passed me by!

Ltw
Ltw
1 month ago
Reply to  Steve

Steve, stop putting songs in my head. Fine, I will admit you have good taste and I like KLF 🙂

Theophrastus
Theophrastus
1 month ago
Reply to  Gamecock

Indeed. Human nature remains constant: only socialists imagine it can be changed.

john77
john77
1 month ago
Reply to  Theophrastus

So the Fabians were enthusiasts for Eugenics

Theophrastus
Theophrastus
1 month ago
Reply to  john77

Good point: indeed they were.
I favour negative eugenics – gently discouraging degenerates from breeding, immigration control, and banning of first cousin marriage…

john77
john77
1 month ago
Reply to  Theophrastus

As long as you focus on “gently”

Theophrastus
Theophrastus
1 month ago
Reply to  john77

Indeed. Though I favour enforced sterilisation of all illegals in order to pour encourager les autres.

Norman
Norman
1 month ago
Reply to  Theophrastus

Gelding, you mean?

Bloke in North Dorset
Bloke in North Dorset
1 month ago
Reply to  Theophrastus

Pendantry alert: pour in this context means “in order to”.

Theophrastus
Theophrastus
1 month ago

Thanks

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