Miliband refused to meet motor trade body to discuss zero emissions mandate Transport & Infrastructure Ed Miliband refused to meet the UK motor industry’s largest trade body during his two-year stint as energy secretary, despite the government’s controversial targets for electric vehicle sales falling partly under his department’s purview. Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) boss Mike Hawes said his lobby group’s requests to meet the Labour heavyweight and [...]
Industry bodies call on Burnham to bring down energy bills to fire up growth Energy Andy Burnham’s government must slash green levies on companies’ energy bills and bring forward support for energy-intensive industries if it wants to fire up Britain’s economy and win over a sceptical private sector, two of Britain’s largest industry bodies have said. In a joint report published today, the CBI and Energy UK called on the [...]
North Sea oil services group Petrofac could ‘collapse by Monday’ Energy Petroface, a North Sea oil and energy services group, could file for insolvency as early as Monday morning before markets open, it has been reported. The company’s board is reportedly holding emergency meetings over the weekend to discuss the possible collapse of the firm, putting around 2,000 jobs in Scotland under risk. It has also [...]
Centrica CEO: Regulate energy bosses like top bankers October 16, 2025 The boss of the UK’s largest energy supplier has called for the sector’s chief executives to be regulated like bankers, despite the government’s high-profile drive to slash red tape in a bid to boost the economy. During an evidence session with the Energy Security and Net Zero Committee, Centrica’s Chris O’Shea told MPs he was [...]
‘Hard to accept’: Small firms round on energy intensive subsidies October 8, 2025 So-called standing charges are going up by as much as 94 per cent for all businesses bar the most energy intensive come April. Many are up in arms, writes Ali Lyon Even businesses like Michael Morris’s Beachcomber Amusements – a traditional arcade that treats guests in the small Fife town of Leven to games of [...]
Energy tycoon fires up UK gas storage project September 22, 2025 An Irish energy tycoon has revealed plans to build a new gas storage site in the Irish Sea that would boost the UK’s capacity by over 50 per cent. Tony O’Reilly Jr’s Dcarbonx, which is backed by gas infrastructure behemoth Snam, wants to redevelop a former gas site off the coast of Barrow-in-Furness as part [...]
Drax hikes dividend despite profit dip amid power station update July 31, 2025 Drax has told investors it was close to agreeing a controversial contract with the government for its wood pellet power station after hiking its dividend despite revealing falling profit. The London-listed group said the energy transition was “creating significant value opportunities aligned with the UK’s energy needs” in an interim update in which it revealed [...]
Ed Miliband rules out zonal energy pricing July 10, 2025 The UK government has ruled out the introduction of a zonal energy pricing system that would have seen regions closer to renewable energy sources likelier to see lower prices. Ed Miliband’s Department for Energy Security and Net Zero has opted to reform the existing system by reviewing the way transmission charges work and incentivising the [...]
Co-op boss urges Miliband to support small firms June 19, 2025 The boss of the Co-op has urged Ed Miliband to rectify the host of “far-reaching challenges” impeding small businesses’ net zero efforts, warning that a paucity of cheap finance and planning red tape were getting in the way of firms’ ambitions. In a letter seen by Morning Wire Shirine Khoury-Haq said Britain was at a [...]
Exclusive: Government admits fossil fuels use is cheaper than net zero technology June 19, 2025 The UK government has quietly admitted that using low-carbon technologies essential to the rapid drive to net zero are more expensive than when fossil fuels are used an energy source, Morning Wire can reveal. Labour ministers are expected to double down on expanding the use of green technologies to lower costs as the Treasury and [...]